40 Big Game Fishes 



until a deep shadow took shape over it and a big 

 dun-colored shark appeared upon the scene, pass- 

 ing over the bait, then stopping as it caught the 

 scent, driving away every living thing in and 

 about that particular wreck. 



The lesson was not lost, and on the following 

 day, with a fresh supply of " hard heads," which 

 Paublo cut down for me with his sabre, I again 

 essayed the gray snappers. I fitted my light rod 

 with a new and approved line and the long 

 copper leader, then cast into the magic circle of 

 the gray poseurs. As the bait touched the bottom 

 I worked the line and leader into the sand, imitat- 

 ing the methods of my sable mentor. It was 

 now irresistible, and a large snapper moved at the 

 lure, stopping as did the other, like a Mexican 

 who rides full speed at a stone wall, turns on the 

 instant and touches it deftly. I had witnessed 

 the feat, and the rush and sudden halt of the 

 snapper was a vivid imitation. Its movements 

 were so forcible that the current of water partly 

 turned the bait, which I could see from the high 

 ledge of dead coral rock upon which I was stand- 

 ing five or six feet above. Never was more cun- 

 ning, more diplomacy, displayed. The fish was 

 fascinated, but it swam over the wire a score of 



