The Annals of the Porch Club 167 



twenty-four hours; an innocent and agreeable-looking lot 

 of men, with here and there a tenderfoot sitting among 

 them, taking in the conversation. Among them was a poet, 

 a contributor to the Eastern magazines, it was said, a seeker 

 after facts and information; and this in a general way is 

 about what he heard, not from the minutes, as the Porch 

 Club keeps none — that would be too hard work. 



" It's a wonder to me," began some one, " that the gov- 

 ernment inspectors have not provided for such a contingency 

 before. How did it happen, General? And permit me to 

 congratulate you on your escape ; and you, too, Senator." 



" Don't mention it," replied the General. " You see I 

 was trying my new reel, a great reel that. The most re- 

 markable feature is that it holds nearly a mile of No. six 

 line, or to be exact, S 2 79%i feet," and the General glanced 

 at the earnest face of the newcomer on the last boat, who 

 had hitched his chair a little nearer, and who seemed 

 startled. " Yet it will stand a dead weight of a hundred 

 and forty pounds. I had it made for the yellowfin tuna, 

 and when trolling off the bay, the Senator had a strike and 

 missed ; then I had one, a strike that nearly lifted me from 

 my seat. But I recovered, and first put on the thumb-stall ; 

 but the speed, the rush of the line dried it out, and set it on 

 fire. Then I put on the click, and the emergency brake, 

 and I could hear the brass filings of the click strike against 

 the face of the reel like hail, as they flew off under pressure. 

 I estimate that in that rush I lost over half a mile of line, 

 despite the fact that the boatman had turned the launch, 

 and we were steaming after the fish at a rate of fif- 

 teen miles an hour. I don't overestimate that, do I, Sen- 

 ator?" 



" You don't," was the reply. 



"I saw that something had to be done," continued the 

 General as he lighted a cigar, " so I clapped on the Rabbeth 

 drag, as a sort of last resort, and up into the air went a puff 

 of peculiar white smoke; I felt something give, and just 



