An Ocean Swashbuckler 



mullet, and had his boat rowed slowly along. He 

 had a reel of English make, which held nearly twelve 

 hundred feet of 24-thread braided line, and a heavy 

 rod of about the class used for the tarpon, with which 

 he had taken large sharks up to three or four hundred 

 pounds. 



It was not long before one of the men called his 

 attention to an object in the water two or three hun- 

 dred yards away; it appeared to be the sail of a minia- 

 ture craft vividly colored, moving leisurely, but 

 proved to be the dorsal fin of the famous sailfish. 

 Presently others were seen, and at one time four or 

 five were cruising about ; their splendid fins glistening 

 in the sun in tints of red, purple and black. At the 

 angler's order the boat was directed across the course 

 of the fish, and was so accurately calculated that 

 the bait was dragged directly before the leading 

 fish, which swerved slightly to one side, and with a 

 quick movement seized it. The sportsman waited a 

 moment, paying out ten or fifteen feet of line, reck- 

 oning on the hard jaw of the fish, and then hooked 

 it. He was familiar with the leap high into the 

 air of the silver king, but in response to his move- 

 ment there rose from the sea a fluttering sail-like fin, 

 scintillating with color, and the body of a slender fish 

 with long dangling finlets, with a sword of such size 

 that the men dropped their oars in terror. Accord- 

 ing to the angler, the fish appeared to be eighteen feet 

 in length. Clearing the water, it fell back with a 



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