TALES OF FISHES 



wet sides and flying in red spray from his slapping 

 gills — a wonderful and hair-raising spectacle. He 

 stayed up only what seemed a moment. During 

 this action and when he began again to leap and 

 smash toward us, I snapped my camera three times 

 upon him. But I missed seeing some of his greatest 

 leaps because I had to look at the camera while 

 operating it. 



"Get backl" yelled Dan, hoarsely. 



I was so excited I did not see the danger of the 

 swordfish coming aboard. But Captain Dan did. 

 He swept the girls back into the cabin doorway, and 

 pushed Mrs. R. C. into a back corner of the cockpit. 

 Strange it seemed to me how pale Dan was! 



The swordfish made long, swift leaps right at the 

 boat. On the last he hit us on the stern, but too 

 low to come aboard. Six feet closer to us would 

 have landed that huge, maddened swordfish right 

 in the cockpit! But he thumped back, and the 

 roar of his mighty tail on the water so close suddenly 

 appalled me. I seemed to grasp how near he had 

 come aboard at the same instant that I associated 

 the power of his tail with a havoc he would have 

 executed in the boat. It flashed over me that he 

 would weigh far over three hundred. 



When he thumped back the water rose in a sound- 

 ing splash, deluging us and leaving six inches in the 

 cockpit. He sheered off astern, sliding over the 

 water in two streaks of white running spray, and 

 then up he rose again in a magnificent wild leap. 

 He appeared maddened with pain and fright and 

 instinct to preserve his life. 



Again the fish turned right at us. This instant 



S12 



