THE BOOK OF THE TARPON 



dark body with a cavern of a mouth which closed 

 over what was left of the tarpon. Again the 

 line ran out, but this time with a firm pull as if 

 fastened to a slow freight train. When the 

 shark found that he was hooked he turned, 

 rolled, and twisted about till he had the line in 

 his mouth. But it was the steel wire end of the 

 line and after biting it a few times the puzzled 

 shark gave it up and swam quietly away to 

 meditate. 



"Sorry we lost the tarpon, but we've got a big 

 shark to show for it," said the captain. 



"Looks the other way round to me. We might 

 as well try to tow a house and he won't be worried 

 into tiring himself out." 



"Coax him into shoal water and pound his 

 head, same as we did at Boca Grande." 



But he wouldn't be coaxed and when I tried 

 to reel him in, I merely pulled the light canoe 

 over him. Then he came to the surface, lifting 

 his big dorsal fin high above it and turning his 

 huge body until the cavernous mouth with its 

 rows of introverted serrated teeth was in position 

 to engulf us as it had the tarpon. 



"Let up on that line!" shouted the captain as 

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