THE BOOK OF THE TARPON 



capture of one of his kind of fifty times his avoir- 

 dupois. 



The next tarpon that struck gave no choice 

 about the manner of playing him, for after a 

 few preliminary leaps and an angry shake of his 

 head he started up the creek like a steamboat and 

 the captain had to get busy to keep within the 

 limits of my line. It was a bigger creek than the 

 one where we lost our first fish and I usually 

 had room for my rod, but sometimes an over- 

 hanging branch had to be dodged and there were 

 short turns in the stream that troubled me. Once 

 the fish sulked under the bank for a minute and 

 then came straight for the canoe, but the splash 

 of a paddle turned the creature back on its course 

 after a protesting leap that nearly carried it over 

 an out-thrusting branch. It was our second nar- 

 row escape, for if the tarpon had passed us it 

 would soon have been free, since we hadn't room 

 in that part of the creek to turn our canoe. 



To manage the canoe from the bow and the 

 tarpon from the stern, in that crooked little 

 creek, would have invited trouble. 



It was a playful tarpon that led us and we had 

 oodles of fun in the half mile course of the creek, 



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