Big Game at Sea 



the canoe shot ahead after the fleeing fish. The rope 

 was running out so swiftly that it would probably 

 have broken when the end came, had not this precau- 

 tion been taken ; as it was, when it was all exhausted, 

 the jerk of the fish buried the bow in foam; the man 

 sprang aft, and a second later the craft was bounding 

 after the stricken fish. 



" For nearly half an hour this race was kept up, 

 and then the game showing some signs of exhaustion, 

 the rope was manned, and an attempt made to gain 

 upon it and take in the slack. At first it seemed to 

 spur the fish into renewed efforts, but finally they 

 began to gain and could see the monster ahead. 



' He has stopped ! ' shouted the harpooner, sud- 

 denly, after a few moments of hard pulling. * Take 

 in quick ! ' said the Englishman ; ' perhaps he is sink- 

 ing.' Then a movement from the bow man attracted 

 his attention. The latter was evidently dumb with 

 terror and could only point, and there, coming on 

 with the celerity of light, was the great fish, its fin 

 fairly whistling through the water. ' Leap for your 

 lives ! ' shouted the Englishman, hoarsely, and as the 

 men dashed over, the frail craft rose from the water 

 as if shot from a catapult, pierced by the great fish, 

 and fell back a shattered wreck, a precarious refuge 

 for the men. They swam about it holding on in 

 terror, expecting momentarily to be run through by 

 the giant swordsman, and in this condition were finally 

 picked up by some fishermen. The sail-fish had in 



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