around in the water to remove as much of the
sepia as he could, clambering in when he had washed off the worst of it.

Vincente looked at him.

"I t'ink, sair," he said, smiling, "you ought to be photograph' wit' ze
catch!"

CHAPTER VI

DEFEATED BY A SPOTTED MORAY

Colin's brilliant success at Santa Catalina, signalized by his receipt
of the tuna button, had so increased Major Dare's pride in him that when
the boy renewed his request that he be allowed to enter the Bureau of
Fisheries, his appeal received attention. The inspiration that he had
gained from the whole-hearted enthusiasm of the professor was evident in
all that the boy said, and his father was surprised to find how much the
lad really had learned about the work of the Government during his
experiences in the Behring Sea and on the Columbia River.

"It doesn't appeal to me particularly," his father said quietly, when
the boy closed a somewhat impassioned petition, "but we are each built
upon a different pattern. To me, fish are of interest as a food and for
sport. I couldn't be satisfied to take them up as a lifework. There's no
money in it; of course, you can see that."

"There isn't in any government work, is there?"

"No," was the reply, "big fortunes are always made in individual ways.
But when you're starting out in life, it is much more important to be
able to do the work you like than it is to seek only for money. The
principal thing I'm afraid of is that you will find it tiresome and
monotonous after a while. It's very hard work with a good deal of manual
labor involved, and there is nothing particularly attractive in a bushel
of fish-eggs!"

"But it's only on the start that you have to do the steady grind," Colin
objected, "and one has to do that in every line of work. I know you
would very much rather I took to farming or lumbering, but I think a
fish is a much more interesting thing to work with than a hill of corn
or a jack-pine."

"But don't you think you would find it tame after a while?"

Colin leaned forward eagerly.

"I know I wouldn't," he said confidently. "I've heard you say, Father,
that everything was interesting if you only went into it deeply enough.
Now, there's more chance for real original work with fish than in any
other line I've ever heard of. The professor gave me an idea of all the
different problems the Bureau was trying to solve, and each of them was
more interesting than the last. You've got to be a