Catching Menhaden off Montauk 



ONE day a fishing-steamer came in and its 

 captain invited me to go with him, in 

 search of menhaden, off Montauk Point. 

 This promised to be good fun, and I gladly ac- 

 cepted the bid. That night we ran across the 

 eastern throat of Long Island Sound, rounded 

 Point Judith in a lively breeze, which set the 

 little vessel dancing gayly, and next day were 

 back again, anchored in Gardiner's Bay. The 

 wind was wrong, or something else, I forget 

 what, but at any rate we went into Greenport 

 that night, and postponed fishing until the follow- 

 ing morning. I strolled about the pretty Long 

 Island village until bedtime, and then went 

 aboard, for we were to be off at daylight. 



What an exquisite night it was! The air was 

 perfectly calm, the moon just risen, and no sound 

 was to be heard save the ticking of that mighty 

 time-piece, the tide, as its wavelets swung gently 



