rer very
slowly, but none the less surely, the line falling in rings to the
bottom of the boat.

"Bravo!" cried Brazier.

"That's right, both of you!" shouted Shaddy excitedly. "He's dead beat,
and I shall have the big hook in his gills before he knows where he is.
Haul away!"

"Are these mud-fish you talk about good eating, Naylor?" asked Brazier.

"Oh yes, sir. Bit eely-like in their way; not half bad. Come, that's
winning, gents. Well done. Give me a shout when you want me. I won't
come yet so as to get in your way."

"Sha'n't be ready yet," panted Rob. "He is strong. I think you ought
to have a harpoon.--I say."

"Yes, sir."

"Do these mud-fish bite?"

"Well, yes, sir," replied Shaddy; "pretty nigh all the fish hereabouts
are handy with their teeth."

"Ah, he's off again!" cried Joe; and they had to let the prisoner run.
But it was a much weaker effort, and a couple of minutes later they had
hauled in all the line given, and got in so much more that the fish was
at the bottom of the river only four or five yards from the boat.

"Now then, both together; that line will hold!" cried Shaddy excitedly;
"get him right up and see what he is, and if he begins to fight fierce
let him have one more run to finish his flurry, as the whalers call the
last fight."

"Ready, Joe?"

"Yes."

"Both together, then."

There were a few short steady pulls, hand over hand, and the prisoner
was drawn nearer and nearer, and raised from the bottom slowly and
surely, while, as full of excitement now as the lads, Brazier and Shaddy
stood close to the edge watching.

"Hurrah!" cried Rob, who was nearest to the gunwale. "I can see him
now!"

"Well, what is it--a mud-fish?" asked Brazier.

"No," said Joe, straining his neck to get a glimpse through the clear
water, the disturbed mud raised by the struggles of the fish being
rapidly swept away. "It's a dorado: I can see his golden scales!"

"Then he's a regular whopper, my lads. Steady, don't lose him!" cried
Shaddy. "Shall I come on board?"

"No, not yet," said Joe excitedly. "He may make another rush."

"Why, I say, it isn't a very big one," said Rob.

"No," cried Joe, in a disappointed tone; "but he's coming up backwards,
which shows how strong he is."

"Ha, ha!" shouted Rob; "we've caught him by the tail."

"Got the line twisted round it, perhaps," said Brazier. "That's what
makes the fish seem so strong."

"Ugh!" yelled Rob, letting go of the li