To Have And Have Not

HARRY MORGAN-SPRING
race, us with the sun at our backs; the biggest black
marlin I ever saw in my life hit Johnson's bait.
We'd put out a feather squid and caught four of
those little tuna and the nigger put one on his hook
for bait. It trolled pretty heavy but it made a big
splash in the wake.
Johnson took the harness off the reel so he could
put the rod across his knees because his arms got
tired holding it in position all the time. Because
his hands got tired holding the spool of the reel
against the drag of the big bait, he screwed the drag
down when I wasn't looking. I never knew he had
it down. I didn't like to see him hold the rod that
way but I hated to be crabbing at him all the time.
Besides, with the drag off, line would go out so
there wasn't any danger. But it was a sloppy way
to fish.
I was at the wheel and was working the edge of
the stream opposite that old cement factory where
it makes deep so close in to shore and where it makes
a sort of eddy where there is always lots of bait
Then I saw a splash like a depth bomb and the
sword, and eye, and open lower-jaw and huge
purple-black head of a black marlin. The whole top
fin was up out of water looking as high as a full-
rigged ship, and the whole scythe tail was out as he
smashed at that tuna. The bill was as big around
as a baseball bat and slanted up, and as he grabbed
the bait he sliced the ocean wide open. He was solid
purple-black- and he had an eye as big as a soup