THE BOOK OF THE TARPON 



"Did you ever know a tarpon to change into 

 a shark?" 



"Never saw it till yesterday." 



"Well, it has happened again. There is a 

 shark at the end of this line." 



"Must be so," said the captain. "I thought of 

 that when the fish started up that way after he 

 was played out, but I didn't see any splash when 

 he was grabbed. Reckon the shark drove him to 

 the bottom and got him there." 



"The story books say that a shark has to get 

 under its prey and then turn over to seize it." 



"Turn over nothin'! That shark didn't turn 

 over yesterday when it took aboard a tarpon as 

 big as you. Don't you remember that big leop- 

 ard shark inside Pavilion Key that bit the tail 

 off a porpoise that was hangin' in the riggin'? 

 That feller didn't turn over. He came straight 

 for the porpoise and lifted his head two feet out 

 of water and bit like a man." 



The shark, for it was a shark, became logy at 

 last and yielded to the steady strain of the line, 

 but made occasional forays to show us how 

 easily he could get away. We worked the brute 

 over to the shallow water of the bank just inside 



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