PUSHING A MUSKALONGE. 



343 



rod line so the fish and I had a clear field. 

 I took in line whenever I could, but it was 

 y 2 an hour, at least, before I had tired the 

 fish enough to get him near the boat. The 

 usual way of landing a fish of over 6 

 pounds, when there are 2 in the boat, is to 

 bring it alongside, after tiring it, and then 

 shoot it in the head. We had, therefore, 

 left our gaff hook and landing net at camp. 

 When I thought my game was about 

 played out, I told Charlie to get ready to 

 shoot. He clapped his hand to his hip 

 pocket and exclaimed, 



"Great Scott! I left my gun in my 

 room; give me yours." 



I had done the same thing, and there 

 we were! We had the fish, but could not 

 get him. "Look out, Charlie," said I, "I 

 am going to pull him over." 



"All right," said Charlie, and he leaned 

 over so that the gunwale of the boat 

 almost dipped water. I slid the fish 

 over. Charlie grabbed an oar and be- 

 gan hitting the fish for all he was 

 worth, I followed suit with the steer- 

 ing paddle, but the fish made 3 flops to 



our one. We scarcely made an impression, 

 except to make it flop faster, and once or 

 twice it almost flopped out. It occurred to 

 me that if I could make a good endwise 

 jab with my paddle blade I could settle 

 him, so I brought it down, spear fashion, 

 with all the force I could muster. In the 

 excitement I overlooked the fact that I 

 might miss the head of the fish, although it 

 looked nearly a foot wide; also that we 

 were not on land, but were % of a mile 

 out from shore, with only a *4-inch plank 

 between us and the water. In less time 

 than it takes me to tell it, my paddle had 

 gone clear through the bottom of the 

 boat, splintering the plank for a foot or 

 more, and the water was coming in as if 

 through a 4-inch hose. Charlie's first im- 

 pulse was to get ashore. He seized the 

 oars and pulled his best. In 3 seconds or 

 less the water was 3 inches deep, and Char- 

 lie threw his feet on either side of the 

 seat, but kept on pulling. By that time 

 the water was over the seat on which he 

 was sitting. The fish, finding itself once 

 more in its native element, had ceased its 



IT STRUCK CHARLIE AMIDSHIPS 



