CHAPTER XIX 



BARRACUDA 



THEY called him Barracuda down on the 

 reef. He was long, thin, loose-jointed, 

 with a long, pointed nose ; a typical Cracker, 

 with long, dead-gold hair and big freckles, and for 

 some time I supposed the name applied to his looks, 

 the barracuda being a long, pointed-jawed fish very 

 common in the vicinity. I had been told that Barra- 

 cuda was the best guide and fisherman on the reef. 

 He had a big sloop and smaller boats, a comfortable 

 home on Key St. Vincente, so I had hunted him up, 

 and Barracuda and myself were under a three 

 months' engagement to hunt and fish among the 

 Florida keys. He was a very quiet fellow, rarely 

 speaking, and I do not know that I ever saw him 

 laugh, yet he was not taciturn, and was simply a quiet, 

 good-natured man of whom you would not expect 

 great things. 



A few days after I was settled at the key, we went 

 out in the dinghy, and I had my first experience with 

 Barracuda and the fish whose name he bore. I was 

 desirous of learning all the tricks of the reef, and he 

 proposed to show me how he took the barracuda 



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