224 THE SALT OF MY LIFE 



keep the fish. Alas, I was never called upon to 

 exceed the daily minimum, and of fish there were 

 none to keep. Besides worrying Mr. Faber, who, 

 after all, could only retaliate once a week, I turned 

 my pen on anyone within reach who had ever 

 caught large sea fish ; and Mr. Turner Turner, Mr. 

 Rowland Ward and many others were bothered 

 in turn. Tackle I begged, bought, or borrowed 

 on all sides. Mr. Turner very kindly lent me a 

 complete tarpon outfit, including one of Vom 

 Hofe's reels, with which his wife and he had en- 

 joyed mighty sport in Florida. Messrs. Farlow 

 lent me special hooks of the right pattern, lines 

 and a spare rod. Messrs. Carter provided me 

 with a beautiful line of copper wire, made specially 

 for the experiment, and 300 yards long. Though 

 the supreme test in view was not forthcoming, 

 the way in which it sank vertical in tides that took 

 other lines almost to the surface, as well as the 

 condition in which it came out of a very trying 

 entanglement with the anchor rope, caused me 

 to revise a hitherto hesitating appreciation of 

 this material. I had cabled to E. Vom Hofe for 

 the largest tuna reel in his store, as Turner's was 

 rather small. As some indication of my state 

 of mind at the time, I may as well confess that 

 I apparently omitted to sign the cablegram, as a 

 result of which the reel did not come. Messrs. 

 Bernard, however, stepped into the breach with 



