The Duel 



mackerel. As it swam slowly along it presented a 

 picture of strength and reserve force; clinging to it 

 were four or five black, flat-headed remoras, towed 

 along by their protector, while several swam about 

 hunting for food. Suddenly the swordfish perceived 

 a large flying-fish acting strangely, whirling slowly 

 around yet moving along. Few if any game fish can 

 resist the spectacle of wounded small fry, and the 

 swordfish was no exception. A quick movement of 

 the powerful tail and the game was seized; then the 

 big fish for the first time felt pain, something sharp, 

 venomous, irritating, struck it sharply in the mouth. 

 A strange bearing, controlling sensation followed. 

 The fish had possibly felt the strong resistance when 

 its sword was hilt deep in the thick blubber of a 

 whale, but this was a new terror-inspiring sensation, 

 and wild, maddened at the unknown check, it surged 

 upward like a living catapult and went shimmering, 

 trembling, high into the air. 



Of all leapers the swordfish is the most clumsy, 

 the most ungraceful, rising up and forward at an 

 angle of forty-five degrees, then dropping flat or prone 

 upon the surface with a tumultuous splash and roar 

 of waters. In the few seconds in the air the swords- 

 man of the sea may have caught a glimpse of the big 

 mountains of Santa Catalina lying like a giant whale 

 on the surface, and just ahead, a launch and a man 

 holding a rod. It is very doubtful if the fish associ- 

 ated this object sixty or seventy feet distant with the 



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