Mother Carey's Chicken Part 60

He had hardly spoken when the shark turned, and there was an eddying swirl in the water where his tail gave a vigorous stroke or two, and almost simultaneously a long glistening cruel-looking head rose out of the water.

The monkey uttered a shriek, and would have leaped overboard in his fright, but for Billy Widgeon's restraining hand, when the poor little animal took refuge beneath his legs, while Bruff set up a furious bark, his hair ruffling up about his neck, and his eyes glistening with anger.

But shriek or yell had no influence upon the hungry shark, which seemed to glide like a glistening curve or arch of shark right over the bows of the boat, striking her side in the descent as the fish pa.s.sed into the sea again; but so heavy was the blow, and so great the creature's weight, that the gig was extremely near being capsized.

"Pa.s.s me the other gun, Mark," cried the captain. "Look out, Gregory, whatever you do. Another attack like that, and the brute will have us over, and--"

He left his sentence unfinished, while Mark pa.s.sed the gun, and then resumed his grasp of the thwart upon which he was seated, holding on with both hands, while in the agony of dread he suffered the great drops of perspiration stood out upon his forehead, and ran together, and trickled down the sides of his nose, as his breath came thick and fast.

Some very heroic lads would, no doubt, have drawn a knife, or seized an oar, or done something else very brave in defence, but in those brief moments Mark was recalling stories he had read about sharks seizing struggling people as they were swimming, and that the water was stained with blood, and one way and another he was as thoroughly frightened as ever he had been in his life.

"Now, then!" said the captain, as the shark completed another circuit of the boat, and was about to repeat his evolution. "Both together at his head, and fire low as he rises."

It was a quick shot on the part of both, delivered just as the shark rose from the water again to leap at the boat, which probably represented to him an eatable fish swimming on the surface, while, as the two puffs of smoke darted from the guns and the loud reports rang out, the great fish fell short, but struck its nose against the side of the gig, and sank down in the water, the back fin disappearing, and coming up again fifty yards away.

"I think we'll be contented," said the captain, closing the breech of his piece, and pa.s.sing it to Mark. "Let's make a masterly retreat, Gregory."

"Think he'll come back?"

"I should say no," replied the captain. "The brute has evidently had quite as much as he requires for the present."

"Will it kill him?" asked Mark.

"Can't say. I should think not. He must be badly wounded though, to sheer off like that."

"Look at that," shouted Billy Widgeon excitedly, as all of a sudden the shark was seen to leap clear out of the water, and fall back with a tremendous splash, not head first, so as to dive down, but on its flank, sending the water flying, while directly after the sea in that direction became tremendously agitated, sending waves toward them sufficiently big to make the boat rise and fall.

"He's in his flurry, Mr Mark, sir," said Billy Widgeon gleefully. "I can't abear sharks."

"Pull hard, Gregory," said the captain; "the sooner we are away from here the better."

He spoke in a low voice, and exchanged meaning glances with the mate, who at once bent to his oar.

"No, no: don't go," cried Mark. "I should like to see him when he's dead."

"I'm afraid there will be no shark to see," said the captain grimly, as the gig surged through the water.

"Why, there's his back fin, and there it is again and again," cried Mark. "How he keeps curving out of the water and das.h.i.+ng about! I say, father, row back and put him out of his misery."

"I daresay he is out of it by this time, my boy," said the captain, rowing hard.

"But there he is again, swimming round and beating the water."

"Why, Mark, can't you see that the water there is alive with sharks, and that they are devouring their wounded brother--fighting for the choice morsels, I dare say. This is a warning never to bathe except in some pool."

"What! do you think? Oh, I see now! How horrible!" said Mark.

"Horrible, eh?" grunted Gregory. "I wish they'd make a day of it, and eat one another all up. We could get on very well without sharks."

Mark said no more about putting their enemy out of his misery, but sat watching till, at the end of a few minutes, the surface of the lagoon grew calm; but until they had turned a low spit of sand, the black fins of at least a dozen sharks could be seen cruising round and round, and to and fro, in search of something more to satisfy their ravenous hunger.

"We are getting some experience of the dangers we shall have to encounter," said the captain, as the scene of their late conflict with the shark pa.s.sed completely out of their sight, and they rowed on steadily. "That's your first shark, Mark, eh?"

"Yes," said Mark, thoughtfully, "I shall know what a shark is now."

"I think we'll give them a turn now, Gregory," said the captain. "No, no, one at a time," he cried angrily, as the men sprang up together.

"We must not capsize the boat here. Now you, my man," he continued, sitting fast, as the sailor stepped across and took the mate's place before Mr Gregory rose. "Now you, Widgeon."

Billy crept very softly into the captain's place, and the latter seated himself on the thwart in front of Mark, to be joined directly by Gregory.

"There," cried Mark, as the oars dipped, "I heard it. There."

"What?" said his father.

"That roaring which Mr Gregory heard."

"It was the creaking and groaning of the oars in the tholes."

"No, no, father. It was that deep savage roar heard ever so far off."

They ceased rowing again and again, but the sound was heard no more, and the captain began to talk rather anxiously to Mr Gregory as the sun grew low in the west, and it became evident that they had a long way yet to row.

"Tired, Mark?" cried the captain.

"No, father," he replied, laughing; "but if you'll say hungry, I'll tell you: Yes, very."

"Ah, well, I keep hoping that every headland we pa.s.s may bring us in sight of the camp! It cannot be very far now."

"But suppose it isn't an island," said Mark; "we might be rowing right away."

"Come, come," cried the captain cheerily; "you the son of a navigator, and talking like this. Now, then, which way did we row when we started?"

"North-east," said Mark.

"And then?"

"North."

"Yes, go on."

"Then I think we went north-west."

"Well, and after that?"

"West, father."

"Then as we ran from the shark we went south, didn't we?"

"I don't know," said Mark. "I was too intent on the way in which they were tearing him to pieces."