to his
head.

After that I was more interested in bonefish. I never failed to ask
questions. But bonefishermen were scarce and as reticent as scarce. To
sum up all of my inquiries, I learned or heard a lot that left me
completely bewildered, so that I had no idea whether a bonefish was a
joke or the grandest fish that swims. I deducted from the amazing
information that if a fisherman sat all day in the blazing sun and had
the genius to discover when he had a bite he was learning. No one
ever caught bonefish without days and days of learning. Then there were
incidents calculated to disturb the peace of a contemplative angler like
myself.

[Illustration: AT LONG KEY, THE LONELY CORAL SHORE WHERE THE SUN
SHINES WHITE ALL DAY AND THE STARS SHINE WHITE ALL NIGHT]

[Illustration: THE FAMOUS STUNT OF A MARLIN SWORDFISH, "WALKING ON
HIS TAIL"]

One man with heavy tackle yanked some bonefish out of the tide right in
front of my cabin, quite as I used to haul out suckers. Other men tried
it for days without success, though it appeared bonefish were passing
every tide. Then there was a loquacious boatman named Jimmy, who, when
he had spare time, was always fishing for bonefish. He would tell the
most remarkable tales about these fish. So finally I drifted to that
fatal pass where I decided I wanted to catch bonefish. I imagined it
would be easy for me. So did Captain Sam. Alas! the vanity of man!

Forthwith Captain Sam and I started out to catch soldier-crabs for bait.
The directions we got from conch fishermen and others led us to assume
that it would be an easy matter to find crabs. It was not! We had to go
poking round mangrove roots until we learned how to catch the soldiers.
If this had not been fun for me it would have been hard work. But ever
since I was a little tad I have loved to chase things in the water. And
upon this occasion it was with great satisfaction that I caught more
bait than Captain Sam. Sam is something of a naturalist and he was
always spending time over a curious bug or shell or object he found.
Eventually we collected a bucketful of soldier-crabs.

Next day, about the last of the ebb-tide, we tied a skiff astern and
went up the Key to a cove where there were wide flats. While working our
way inshore over the shoals we hit bottom several times and finally
went aground. This did not worry us, for we believed the rising tide
would float us.

Then we got in the skiff and rowed toward the flats.