196 THE THOUSAND ISLES. 



though it had struck a log ; for a momeut it was still, 

 then I felt the motion of the fish. The boatman instantly 

 dropped his oars and reeled in as quickly as possible the 

 other lines just in time ; for the fish, feeling he was 

 caught, made one rush directly toward us. I drew in the 

 line hand over hand, to have something to give out when 

 he should make away again, but not nearly so fast as he 

 moved. He passed close to us ; we could see the broad 

 back, the long nose, the fierce eye, the mighty length of 

 the mascallonge. 



" Turn the boat broadside toward him," I whispered as 

 he passed. 



Away he went, the slack of the line hissed through the 

 water as his increasing distance took it up, and partially 

 deadened his way as he reached the end of it and came 

 against the light though steady strain with which I held 

 it. Giving to him, at first readily then more sparingly, 

 I again turned him; this time he did not approach so 

 near, but swung round well in-shore. Then, with a sud- 

 den rush, he came straight on, and flashed directly 

 beneath the bottom of the boat. If the line once touched 

 the rough surface, or caught in a splinter of the wood, 

 we knew it would part like pack-thread. The oarsman 

 tried to swing her round ; there was no time ; hastily 

 gathering a few coils, I threw them into the water at the 

 stern, and passing the line over my head, anxiously 

 watched them sink. Suddenly they were taken up, the 

 line in my hand taughtened and lifted out of water ; it 

 had not caught, and that danger was past. The strug- 

 gle lasted long ; again and again he darted away ; once 

 he nearly exhausted my line, and compelled me to use 



