TALES OF FISHES 



o'clock we walked to the same place we were yester- 

 day. It was a bright, wann day, with just enough 

 breeze to ruffle the water and make fishing pleasant, 

 and we certainly expected to have good luck. But 

 we fished for about three hours without any sign of 

 a fish. This was discouraging and we could not 

 account for it. 



So we moved. About half a mile down the beach 

 I thought I caught a glimpse of a bonefish. It was 

 a likely-looking contrast to the white marl all around. 

 Here I made a long cast and sat down to wait. My 

 brother lagged behind. Presently I spied two bone- 

 fish nosing along not ten feet from the shore. They 

 saw me, so I made no attempt to drag the bait near 

 them, but I called to my brother and told him to 

 try to get a bait ahead of them. This was a little 

 after flood-tide. It struck me then that these sin- 

 gular fish feed up the beach with one tide and down 

 with another. 



Just when my brother reached me I got a nibble. 

 I called to him and then stood up, ready to strike. 

 I caught a glimpse of the fish. He looked big and 

 dark. He had his nose down, fooling with my bait. 

 When I struck him he felt heavy. I put on the click 

 of the reel, and when the bonefish started off he 

 pulled the rod down hard, taking the line fast. He 

 made one swirl on the surface and then started up 

 shore. He seemed exceedingly swift. I ran along 

 the beach until presently the line slackened and I 

 felt that the hook had torn out. This was disap- 

 pointment. I could not figure that I had done any- 

 thing wrong, but I decided in the future to use a 

 smaller and sharper hook. We went on down the 



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