158 THE SALT OF MY LIFE 



passengers " have a charm of manner that dis- 

 tinguishes them from the other personages of 

 earth. The only construction we could put upon 

 " the other thing " was whist all day and pegs 

 all the evening ; and, as these had been tried to 

 exhaustion, we resolved to give the fishing a turn. 

 Over went the flying-fish on the day that Java 

 faded from sight, and away it trailed in the direc- 

 tion of that spicy island, bobbing and dancing in 

 the creamy wake of the pulsing screw, and the 

 lissom bamboo bent to the pull of it. Then the 

 line and bell were so connected that as soon as 

 a fish threw additional strain on the former it 

 set the latter ringing. The first time, the bell 

 remained silent, and after waiting with waning 

 enthusiasm for three or four hours, six of us, 

 passengers and crew together, had half-an-hour's 

 back-breaking exercise getting the line in, so 

 appalling was the tension. Next evening, when 

 some slight finishing touches had been put on the 

 " fish," till it now resembled a waterlogged bird, 

 it was once more cast loose to dance before the 

 eyes of ravening monsters of the deep. It did 

 its work, but we never saw it again. Just as we 

 were busy at dinner with some more than usually 

 uninteresting dish, tinkle went the bell, and, 

 without apology to the Captain, who would not 

 have left his food if the four beasts of the apocalypse 

 had sat down at the saloon table, we dashed on 



