twenty-pound
fish is a strain to a light rod."

"It is difficult," was the reply, "but the club rules require the use of
a rod the tip of which shall be not less than five feet long, weighing
not over sixteen ounces in weight, and a line not over a 'twenty-four'
or smaller than the usual trout-line. With this equipment, to conquer a
tuna weighing over one hundred pounds is an angling achievement of the
highest rank, and for this the blue tuna button is given by the club."

"And Father never told me!" Colin said reproachfully, watching the
contest with the fish as well as he could considering his distance from
the scene of action.

"Major Dare is a thorough sportsman," the angler said, "and I suppose
he thought it would look like boasting. What's happening there in the
boat?"

"It looks as though they had started out to sea," Colin answered,
handing back the glass.

"That's what's the matter!" the angler said. "By Jonah's whale, how she
is flying through the water!"

The two watched the boat until a turn of the cliff hid it from sight and
then, Colin, turning round, saw that the steamer was nearly at the pier,
close enough for him to distinguish his mother and sister waiting there
and waving to attract his attention. He signaled enthusiastically in
reply, and in a few minutes the steamer was alongside the wharf.

The greeting was most exciting, for the boy was simply bursting with
news, and there had been a good deal of anxiety felt by his parents on
his behalf while he had been wandering in the Behring Sea. But their
talk was broken in upon by an enthusiastic angler friend, who begged
Mrs. Dare to come to the extreme end of the pier and watch the battle
with the big tuna.

"Oh, Mother," eagerly said the boy, "do you mind if I jump in a boat so
that I can go out and watch Father better? I'm sure he wouldn't
object."

"I think I would like to have you with me for a little while, Colin,"
his mother said with a gentle smile, "after you have been away so long.
But you are just the same, after all, eager to do everything
immediately. I know you would be happier in going, so you can desert us
if you like."

"I don't mean that, Mother!" said the boy, feeling a twinge of
self-reproach.

"No, I know. But you can tell us all the rest of your adventures when
you get back. Lucy quite thinks that you have become a sort of 'Robinson
Crusoe.'"

Colin gave his little sister--of whom he was very fond--an unobserved
hug,