e ut his hands in the ater again to soa as getting late in the afternoon and he sa nothing but the sea and th as more ind in the sky than there had been,and soon he hoed that he ould see land.

“ou're tired,old man,”he said.

“ ou're tired inside.”

he sharks did not hit him again until just befor old man sa the bron fins coming along the ide trail the fish must make in th ere not even quartering on th ere headed straight for the skiff simming side b jammed the tiller,made the sheet fast and reached under the stern for th as an oar handle from a broken oar saed off to about to and a half feet i could only use it effectively ith one hand because of the gri of the handle and he took good hold of it ith his right hand,flexing his hand on it,as he atched the shark ere bot let the first one get a good hold and hit him on the oint of the nose or straight across the to of the head,h to sharks closed together and as he sa the one nearest him oen his jas and sink them into the silver side of the fish,he raised the club high and brought it don heavy and slamming onto the to of the shark's broa felt the rubbery solidity as the club cam he felt the rigidity of bone too and he struck the shark once more hard across the oint of the nose as he slid don from th other shark had been in and out and no came in again ith his ja old man could see ieces of the meat of the fish silling hite from the corner of his jas as he bumed the fish and closed hi sung at him and hit only the head and the shark looked at him and renched the mea old man sung the club don on him again as he slied aay to sallo and hit only the heavy solid rubberiness.

“ome on,galano.”the old man said.

“ ome in again.”

he shark came in a rush and the old man hit him as he shut hi hit him solidly and from as high u as he could raise th time he felt the bone at the base of the brain and he hit him again in the same lace hile the shark tore the meat loose sluggishly and slid don from th old man atched for him to come again but neither shar he sa one on the surface simming i did not see the fin of th not exect to kill them,h have in m have hurt them both badly and neither one can feel ver could have used a bat ith to hands could have killed the first on no,h did not ant to look at th kne that half of him had bee sun had gone don hile he had been in the fight ith the shark.

“t ill be dark soon,”he said.

“hen should see the glo o am too far to the eastard ill see the lights of one of the ne beaches.”

cannot be too far out no,h no one has been to is only the boy to orry, o am sure he ould hav of the older fishermen il others too,h in a goo could not talk to the fish anymore because the fish had been ruined to something came into his head.

“alf fish,”he said.

“ ish that yo sorry that ent too fa u e have killed many sharks,you and ,and ruined man many did you ever kill,old fish?

ou do not have that sear on your head for nothing.”

e liked to think of the fish and hat he could do to a shark if he ere simmin have choed the bill off to fight them ith,h there as no hatchet and then there as n if had,and could have lashed it to an oar butt,hat e might have fought the ill you do no if they come in the night?

hat can you do?

“ight them,”he said.

“ 'll fight them until die.”

ut in the dark no and no glo shoing and no lights and only the ind and the steady ull of the sail he felt that erhas he as alread ut his to hands together and felt th ere not dead and he could bring the ain of life by simly oening and closin leaned his back against the stern and he kne he as no shoulders tol all those rayers romised if caught the fish, h am too tired to say the get the sack and ut it over m lay in the stern and steered and atched for the glo to come in th half of him,h 'll have the luck to bring the forard half in.

should have som,h violated your luck hen you ent too far outside.

“on't be silly,”he said aloud.

“nd kee aake an may have much luck yet.”

“'d like to buy some if there's any lace they sell it,”h could buy it ith?

e aske buy it ith a lost haroon and a broken knife and to bad hands?

“ou might,”he said.

“ou tried to buy it ith eighty-four days a nearly sold it to you too.”

must not think nonsense,h is a thing that comes in many forms and ho can recognize her?

ould take some though in any form and ay hat the could see the glo from the lights,h too man that is the thing ish fo tried to settle more comfortably to steer and from his ain he kne he as no sa the reflected glare of the lights of the city at hat must have been around ten o'clock a ere only ercetible at first as the light is in the sky before the moo they ere steady to see across the ocean hich as rough no ith the increasin steered inside of the glo and he thought that no,soon,he must hit the edge of th it is over, h ill robably hit m hat can a man do against them in the dark ithout a eaon?

e as stiff and sore no and his ounds and all of the strained arts of his body hurt ith the cold of th do not have to fight again,h so much do not have to figh by midnight he fought and this time he kne the fight a came in a ack and he could only see the lines in the ater that their fins made and their hoshorescence as they thre themselves on th clubbed at heads and heard the jas cho and the shaking of the skiff as they took hol clubbed deserately at hat he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it a jerked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and choed ith it,holding it in both hands and driving it don again an they ere u to the bo no and driving in one after the other and together,tearing off the ieces of meat that shoed gloing belo the sea as they turned to come onc came,finally,against the head itself and he kne that it a sung the tiller across the shark's head here the jas ere caught in the heaviness of the fish's head hich ould no sung it once and tice an heard the tiller break and he lunged at the shark ith the slintere felt it go in and knoing it as shar he drove it i shark let go and rolle as the last shark of the ack tha as nothing more for them t old man could hardly breathe no and he felt a strange taste in hi as coery and seet and he as afraid of it for there as not much of it.

e sat into the ocean and said,“at that, make a dream you've killed a man.”
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