THE GAME FISHES OF THE WOELD 



the stern, playing the big fish that was towing them at a rate of 

 iour or five miles an hour. 



I had a most uncomfortable time trying to keep within reach, 

 yet not too near, and when I rounded up and was caught in 

 the trough of the sea I would be nearly thrown out of the launch. 

 The darkness was now intense, but the phosphorescence so vivid 

 that they appeared to be in a sea of fire. Pinchot brought that 

 fish to gaff fourteen times, and fourteen times it broke away and 

 Jie had aU the work to do over again. At last, after several 

 hours, he shouted that Joe had gaffed the fish, and I could see 

 their figures in a weird blaze of phosphorescent light. In attempt- 

 ing to get alongside, as I feared they would capsize in the small 

 craft, I ran into them on the crest of a big sea ; the blaze of light, 

 the heavy sea, and the intense darkness tending to confusion, 

 though I am not attempting to excuse my clumsiness. The 

 impact nearly knocked Joe overboard and he lost his hold on the 

 •swordflsh, and cried ' He's off ! ' 



' iJiTo, he is not ! ' shouted the Chief Forester. ' I have 

 him by the tail,' and as I backed off I saw the extraordinary sight 

 ■of the angler holding the maddened ten-foot fish by the tail while 

 it swung up and down, churning the sea into fire. It was a 

 remarkably plucky thing to do under any circumstances, and 

 I thought as I clung with one hand to the wheel, the other in 

 the clutch of the engine, trying to hold myself in, that if I ever 

 got into a tight place I should Uke to have Gifford Pinchot 

 with me, as I would know he was there to stay, no matter what 

 came. I made another attempt to get alongside, this time suc- 

 cessfully. Joe had again gaffed the swordsman, and I took 

 their line while they lashed the game to the seat ; then they came 

 aboard the launch which was turned and headed for camp, about 

 ;six or seven miles in, where Governor Pardee of California had 

 lighted a big bonfire as a beacon. 



It takes but a few words to give an outline of such a battle, 

 but it occupied several hours in which danger was always present 

 to the two men in a two hundred-pound skiff. 

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