78 HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 



Never shall I forget the scene which followed. Never, if I catch a 

 thousand of his kind, do I expect to see a more magnificent fight for 

 freedom than that grand fish made in his struggles to rid himself of 

 the barb within his jaws. Once, twice, four times he cast his whole 

 length into the air in his mad struggles. The water foamed 

 and boiled as he fell and sank, to almost immediately reappear, 

 hurling himself high into the air, shaking his head as a dog shakes 

 a rat, his blood-red gills showing in striking contrast to his gleaming 

 silver body. As he sank for the fifth time the strain on the line 

 ceased ; turning the reel, there was no resistance, and I heard a sigh 

 from Will. 



" He's off ; it can't be helped ; but wasn't he a dandy? " 

 I said nothing, for I was sadly disappointed. To have had a fine 

 tarpon hooked for fifteen minutes, and then to lose him was dis- 



THE LEAP OF THE TARPON. 



couraging ; but, as Will said, it could not be helped, and the only 

 thing to do was to try for another. So, rowing back to our original 

 position, w^e baited the hook with a fresh and enticing bait, and set- 

 tled down quietly to w^ait. 



