TALES OF FISHES 



strike from a sailfish that went off on a hard, fast 

 rush, so that he hooked it perfectly. He jumped 

 nine times, several of which leaps I photographed. 

 He was a good-sized fish and active and strong. 

 R. C. had him up to the boat in thirty minutes, 

 which was fine work for the hght tackle. I made 

 sure that the fish was as good as caught and I did 

 not look to see where he was hooked. My boat- 

 man is not skilled in the handling of the fish when 

 they are brought in. Few boatmen are. He took 

 hold of the leader, and as he began to lift I saw 

 that the hook was fast in the bill of the sailfish fully 

 six inches from his mouth. At that instant the sail- 

 fish began to thresh. I yelled to the boatman to 

 let go, but either I was not quick enough or he did 

 not obey, for the hook snapped free and the sailfish 

 slowly swam away, his great purple-and-blue spotted 

 sail waving in the water, and his bronze sides shining. 

 And we were both glad that he had gotten away, 

 because we had had the fun out of him and had 

 taken pictures of him jumping, and he was now alive 

 and might make another fisherman sport some day. 



