“All right. Come on, Rex. The rain has about stopped. Guess we’ll take the canoe, though. It’s pretty shallow along the shore here.”
“I believe I’ve got a whale this time,” Rex declared a few minutes later, as his rod bent until the tip was in the water.
“Probably a salmon,” Jack said. “Play him easy, now. That’s it, let him run. Now reel in as fast as you can. Don’t give him any slack if you can help it. Now let him run again. That’s the stuff. He’ll soon tire at that rate.”
For all of a half hour Rex played the big fish. Now getting him almost up to the canoe, only to have to let him have the line again, as he made a frantic rush for freedom. Jack stood up in the canoe with the landing net ready.
“You almost had him that time,” he cried, as the fish turned for what proved to be the final rush. “He’s a dandy, all right. If only you don’t lose him.”
“If I do I’ll go over after him,” Rex panted, as he again began to reel in the line.
It was evident now that the fish was nearly at the end of its strength, although he fought every foot of the way.
“Steady now. Hold him tight. I’ll have him in a minute.”
Suddenly Jack made a dip with the net and the next instant the fish was in the canoe.
“It’s a salmon all right, and the largest I ever saw,” Jack declared.