The Ocean Cat's Paw Part 35

"Sail ho!"

"Where away?" cried the captain. "About five points off the starboard bow, sir. Leastwise, sir, it aren't a sail. It's a big boat, bottom upwards and just awash."

"Stop a minute," cried Rodd. "I'll fetch our gla.s.s."

"Bring mine too, my lad," cried the captain, and Rodd raised his hand in token of his having heard the order, as he dashed to the cabin hatch, to return directly after and find that his uncle was forward along with the skipper scanning the object about a quarter of a mile away.

"Catch hold, uncle," cried Rodd, and he held out the telescope with one hand, and the captain's big mahogany tubed spy-gla.s.s, decorated with coloured flags, with the other.

"No, focus it and use it yourself, boy. I'll have a look afterwards."

Rodd raised the gla.s.s at once to his eye, but by this time the skipper had caught the object, and began to growl remarks.

"Capsized long-boat," he muttered. "No, it's a fish--sick whale, I think. But I don't know. It's moving pretty well through the water.

What do you make of it, my lad?"

"It's very big and long," cried Rodd excitedly, "and it may be part of a whale's back just showing above the water. I don't know, though. I never saw a whale swimming before. Here, I know! I think it's five or six porpoises swimming one after the other and close together."

"Nay!" growled the captain. "It's something--"

"It's gone!" shouted Rodd. "Oh, uncle, I wish you'd seen it. It seemed to sink down out of sight all at once."

"'Cause it didn't like to be looked at, sir," whispered Joe Cross. "But look out, sir," he cried eagerly. "There it is again, a little farther off."

"Have a look, doctor," said the skipper, pa.s.sing the gla.s.s to Uncle Paul.

"Is it a whale?" asked the doctor.

"Nay, that's no whale, sir," replied the captain. "A whale don't go under water like that when she sounds. Down goes her head, and she throws her flukes up in the air."

"Then what is it?" cried Uncle Paul, with the gla.s.s now glued to his eye. "It's something very big. Yes, I can see plainly now-- blackish-grey, and s.h.i.+ny as if slimy. It seems to undulate, for one minute the back seems to be only a few feet long, then three or four parts are above the surface at once, as if the creature were twenty or thirty feet long."

"Yes, sir; I can see that with the naked eye.--Nay, nay, sir; you keep the gla.s.s. It's more in your way than mine. Seems to me as if we have hit a curiosity for you, only it's rather too big to tackle."

"I think it's a great snake," cried Rodd excitedly. "I mean, a very large eel, swimming on the top, and he keeps throwing his head about as if he were feeding in the middle of a shoal of fish."

"Yes, it is something like that, Rodd," said the doctor; "but no conger eel could be as large as that, and really I don't know."

"Sea-sarpint, sir," whispered Joe Cross to Rodd, and looking longingly at the gla.s.s the while.

"Nonsense!" cried Rodd. "Here, you have a look, Joe," and he pa.s.sed the gla.s.s to the sailor. "Now then," he said, "what do you make of it?"

"I say sea-sarpint, sir." The captain growled more deeply than ever.

"Sea-sarpint!" he said, in a tone of disgust. "There, hold your tongue, my lad. You're a naturalist, doctor; you haven't got no sea-sarpints in your books, have you?"

"No," replied the doctor, handing the gla.s.s to one of the men, as he caught his longing eye. "But this must be a very curious fish, and it is evidently feeding. I wish it were coming this way, so that we could have a better view."

Joe Cross lowered the boy's gla.s.s and looked questioningly at Rodd, giving at the same time a wag of his head in the direction of the nearest man.

"Yes, let him have a look," said Rodd hoa.r.s.ely, and as the gla.s.s was pa.s.sed the boy caught the sailor by the sleeve, and whispered, making Joe start and gaze at him inquiringly, before stooping down and giving his thigh a slap with his right hand.

"Ay, ay, sir!" he whispered. "Ask the skipper."

"Ask the _captain_ what?" said the skipper sharply.

"I have been thinking, Captain Chubb," panted Rodd. "Have the long gun loaded with a ball, and let the men try and hit that thing. 'Tisn't above a quarter of a mile away."

"Eh? Have a shot at it, my lad?" said the captain, staring, and then shading his eyes to watch the object that was gliding along, making the water ripple strangely, while all around it was in violent ebullition, betokening that a large shoal of fish was feeding there. "Well, I don't know. What do you say, doctor?" continued the speaker. "I don't say that the lads could hit it, but they might."

"Certainly," said the doctor eagerly. "Try."

There was no occasion to give orders for a ball to be fetched up. Joe Cross and Rodd had darted off together, plunged down the hatchway, and were back again in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time, the sailor carrying the ball, while Rodd had s.n.a.t.c.hed up three or four big sheets of paper from off one of the laboratory lockers, and then as rapidly as possible a good charge of powder was emptied into one of the sheets, the gun's crew fell into place and rammed the charge home in the most business-like manner, the ball followed, Joe Cross thrust the p.r.i.c.ker down into the touch-hole and primed, while another of the men ran with a piece of slow match to the cook's galley, where the water was being boiled for tea.

Everything was done skilfully and with speed, while all on deck were in a state of profound excitement and dread lest the great creature should disappear from sight and rob the spectators of their looked-for sport.

"Oh, do be quick!" cried Rodd.

"Yah-h-h!" came in a groan, for as the words left the boy's lips there was a violent ebullition where the great serpent or whatever it was had been playing, the beautiful ripple of the shoal of fish died out, and in the fast-fading light of the evening the sea all around lay gleaming and grey, as it gently heaved, with no other movement now.

"Oh, what a pity we were so long," said Rodd dismally. "I believe we should have hit it. I am disappointed!"

"Well, so am I, if you come to that, Rodd, my boy," said the doctor, "though I don't think the men could have made a successful shot. You see, it requires a great deal of practice to hit an object like that with a big gun."

"Whatever it was," growled the captain, "it was feeding on that shoal of fish, and when it made that dash it scared the lot away. There it is again! You, Joe Cross, take a good long careful sight. Don't hurry.

Slow and sure. My word, you ought to hit that, my lad! It's a big 'un and no mistake. Silence there! Every man in his place. Slew the muzzle round a little more. Ready, Cross?"

"No, sir; want to lower a little;" and as he spoke the sailor thrust in one of the wedges a trifle. "That's about got it, sir."

"Looks as if he'd come to stay, doctor," said the captain excitedly, as he bent down to glance along over the gun's two sights, for the shoal of fish had risen once more, turning the beautiful smooth sea into a diaper-like pattern, while the strange object seemed as far as they could make out to be making a s.n.a.t.c.hing dart here and another there, seeming to be like some whale-like creature with a long neck.

"Now she's steady, sir," whispered Joe Cross huskily, after taking the captain's place for another sight. "It's as near as I can get, sir. If you'll give me the word."

As he spoke the sailor drew back slightly, the captain cried "Fire!" and with a heavy, sharp crack a puff of white smoke darted from the muzzle and began to expand forward like a grey balloon, obscuring everything from the sight of the lookers-on for about a minute, before it rose clear, and then the darkening sea was all grey once more.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

CHUBB RE SEA-SERPENTS.

"Hah! Very disappointing--very," said the doctor.

"Yes, it's gone, I suppose, sir. One couldn't see where the shot hit for smoke, but I expect it turned up the water and scared the thing away. Well, it's best as it is. A great thing like that might have grown very dangerous if it had been hit."

"Oh, we don't know that," cried the doctor. "Well, I suppose we can do nothing more," he continued, as, following his nephew's example, he strained his eyes over the darkening plain.

"No," said the captain. "Cover up that gun, my lads, and break off.