Paddling under Palmettos — page 213: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

206 Paddling Under Palmettos. They had wonderful success. The sharks gave them much trouble, snapping off a fish before they could haul it in, and finally the captain swore to have revenge. He rigged a shark-hook to a chain about three feet in length, and then rove this latter to a hempen line almost as thick as an ordinary clothesline. Upon the shore at the point he drove in a stout stake, which he called a snubbing post. Baiting the hook with a five-pound channel bass, he and Archie paddled out a short distance and threw it overboard. When the Sea Waif was half-way to the land Archie heard a shout. The captain already had a shark, which was quick work, indeed. In vain did the furious monster endeavor to tear away—hook, swivel, chain, and rope held firmly enough. The captain would have been pulled into the water but for the snubbing post. Around this he had quickly taken a turn with the rope, and thus kept a check on the shark, allowing him to go but slowly. Gomichbooks: co