The Drum 321 
bait was evidently satisfactory, as the drum 
turned until it appeared to stand almost upon its 
head, then seized it. The remoras, which had 
been darting about, “ got aboard,” attaching them- 
selves, and the drum moved on. 
At this particular moment I became a factor 
in the proceedings. I had given the fish three or 
four feet of slack, and as the line came taut the 
big fish did not immediately notice it; then it 
gave a sudden jerk as though of annoyance, 
making the reel cry out beneath my thumb, and 
then with a steady bearing off I successfully set 
the hook into its ample jaws which so easily break 
large hooks by a mere crushing or grinding pro- 
cess. A streak of gray, with streamers of black, 
a cloud of sand sent rolling upward into the clear 
waters, a 2-e-e-e-e-e-e-e/ long drawn out, and the 
game was away, a rush so fierce, so determined, 
that I fully expected to see all the line unreeled ; 
so I descended from the pile of dead coral, my 
point of vantage, and ran along the beach to a 
dinghy, hoping to reach it. But the boat was 
high on the sands and I ran by it, as the fish was 
now going rapidly down the slope of the channel 
into deeper water, and headed out the channel. 
It carried me fifty yards up shore before I stopped 
¥ 
