The Drum 321 



bait was evidently satisfactory, as the drum 

 turned until it appeared to stand almost upon its 

 head, then seized it. The remoras, which had 

 been darting about, " got aboard," attaching them- 

 selves, and the drum moved on. 



At this particular moment I became a factor 

 in the proceedings. I had given the fish three or 

 four feet of slack, and as the line came taut the 

 big fish did not immediately notice it; then it 

 gave a sudden jerk as though of annoyance, 

 making the reel cry out beneath my thumb, and 

 then with a steady bearing off I successfully set 

 the hook into its ample jaws which so easily break 

 large hooks by a mere crushing or grinding pro- 

 cess. A streak of gray, with streamers of black, 

 a cloud of sand sent rolling upward into the clear 

 waters, a z-e-e-e-e-e-e-e ! long drawn out, and the 

 game was away, a rush so fierce, so determined, 

 that I fully expected to see all the line unreeled ; 

 so I descended from the pile of dead coral, my 

 point of vantage, and ran along the beach to a 

 dinghy, hoping to reach it. But the boat was 

 high on the sands and I ran by it, as the fish was 

 now going rapidly down the slope of the channel 

 into deeper water, and headed out the channel. 

 It carried me fifty yards up shore before I stopped 



