Bunyip Land Part 5

"Here, send out one of the sailors," said the doctor. "I'll go too."

One of the men returned to the deck, looking rather glum, and the doctor took his place, while I sympathised with that sailor and wished that the doctor had not spoken, for I felt sure that he had come down into the boat to take care of me, and it made me feel young and childish.

But I did not show my annoyance, I am glad to say; and a minute later the men gave way, and the boat glided slowly towards where the shark had drifted--I all the while standing up in the bows, lance in hand, full of the desire to make use of it, and feeling a cruel, half savage sensation that it would be exceedingly pleasant to drive that lance right home.

"Now my water Saint George the Second," cried the doctor banteringly; "mind you slay the sea-dragon."

"Mind what you're after, youngster," said the captain. "Give it him close below the gills; a good dig and then draw back sharp."

"All right!" I cried back to the captain, for I was offended by the doctor's chaff; it made me feel small before the men. Then, recalling what I had read that a harpooner would do under such circ.u.mstances, I shouted: "Give way, boys!"

I'd have given something to have been back on board the schooner just then, for a roar of laughter greeted my command, and I felt that I was very young, and had made myself rather ridiculous, while to add to my discomfiture the men obeyed my order with such energy that the boat gave a jerk, and I was nearly sent back in a sitting position on the foremost man.

There was another laugh at this, and the doctor said drily:

"No, no, my lad; the lance is for the shark, not for us."

I recovered my balance without a word, and planting my feet firmly wide apart, remained silent and looking very red, while I held my weapon ready.

It was an old rusty affair, with a stiff pole about eight feet long, and was used by the captain for killing those curious creatures which no doubt gave rise to the idea of there being such things as tritons or mermen--I mean the manatees or dugongs that in those days used to swarm in the warmer waters of the Eastern Australian coast.

"Keep it up, my lads; pull!" said the captain, who had an oar over the stern to steer. "We must get back soon."

I thought this was because the shark, which had ceased to swim round and round, was now laboriously making its way with the current at the rate of pretty well two miles an hour; but as the captain spoke I could see that he was scanning the horizon, and I heard the doctor ask if anything was wrong.

"Looks dirty," he growled; and I remember wondering half-laughingly whether a good shower would not wash it clean, when the skipper went on: "Gets one o' them storms now and then 'bout here. Now, my lads; with a will!"

The water surged and rattled beneath my feet, and I was forgetting my annoyance and beginning to enjoy the excitement of my ride; and all the more that the shark had once more stopped in its steady flight, and was showing its white under parts some fifty yards away.

"Ready, my lad!" cried the captain. "I'll steer you close in. Give it him deep, and draw back sharp."

I nodded, and held the lance ready poised as we drew nearer and nearer, and I was ready with set teeth and every nerve tingling to deliver the thrust, when _whish_! _splash_! the brute gave its tail a tremendous lash, and darted away, swimming along with its back fin ploughing the water, and apparently as strong as ever.

"Only his flurry, my lad. Pull away, boys; we'll soon have him now."

The men rowed hard, and the boat danced over the swell, rising up one slope, gliding down another, or so it seemed to me.

"He'll turn up the white directly," cried the captain. "Take it coolly and you'll have him. I'll put you close alongside, and don't you miss."

"Not I, sir," I shouted without turning my head, for it seemed such a very easy task; and away we went once more, getting nearer and nearer, till the back fin went out of sight, came up again, went out of sight the other way, and then there was the s.h.i.+ning white skin glistening in the sun.

There was another swirl and the shark made a fresh effort, but this time it was weaker and the boat gained upon it fast.

"Now, boys, pull hard, and when I say 'In oars,' stop, and we'll run close up without scaring the beggar. Pull--pull--pull--pull! Now! In oars!"

The men ceased rowing, the boat glided on from the impetus previously given, and I was just about to deliver a thrust when the wounded creature saw its enemy, and as if its strength had been renewed, went off again with a dart.

"Look at that," cried the captain. "Never mind, he's not going to get away. We'll have him yet."

"We seem to be getting a long way from the schooner," I heard the doctor say, and I turned round upon him quite angrily.

"Oh!" I cried, "don't stop. We nearly had him that time."

"Well, you shall have another try, my boy," said the captain. "Pull away."

We were going pretty fast all the time, and again and again we drew near, but always to be disappointed, and I stamped my foot with anger, as, every time, the brute darted off, leaving us easily behind.

"Better let me have the lance, Joe," said the doctor smiling.

"No, no," I cried. "I must have a try now."

"Let him be," growled the captain; "n.o.body couldn't have lanced him if he'd tried. Now look out, lad! Steady, boys! In oars! Let's go up more softly. That's the style. We shall have him this time. Now you have him, lad; give it him--deep."

All these words came in a low tone of voice as the boat glided nearer and nearer to where the shark was swimming slowly and wavering to and fro, and in my excitement I drew back, raising the lance high, and just as the monster was about to dash off in a fresh direction I threw myself forward, driving the point of the lance right into the soft flesh, forgetful of my instructions about a sharp thrust and return, for the keen lance point must have gone right through, and before I realised what was the matter I was s.n.a.t.c.hed out of the boat; there was a splash, the noise of water thundering, a strangling sensation in my nostrils and throat, and I was being carried down with a fierce rush into the depths of the sea.

CHAPTER FOUR.

HOW I WAS NOT DROWNED, AND HOW WE CHASED THAT SCHOONER.

I don't remember much about that dive, except that the water made a great deal of noise in my ears, for the next thing that occurred seemed to be that I was lying on my back, with the back of my neck aching, while the doctor was pumping my arms up and down in a remarkably curious manner.

"What's the matter?" I said quickly; and then again in a sharp angry voice, "Be quiet, will you? Don't!"

"Are you better, young 'un?" said the captain, who seemed to be swollen and clumsy looking.

"Better? Here!" I cried as a flash of recollection came back, "where's the shark?"

"Floating alongside," said the doctor, wiping the great drops of perspiration from his forehead.

I pulled myself up and looked over the side, where the great fish was floating quite dead, with one of the sailors making fast a line round the thin part of the tail.

"Why, I know," I cried; "he dragged me down."

It was all plain enough now. The captain had fitted a lanyard to the shaft of the lance, so that it should not be lost, and I had got this twisted round one of my wrists in such a way that I was literally s.n.a.t.c.hed out of the boat when it tightened; and I felt a strange kind of shudder run through me as the doctor went on to say softly:

"I had begun to give you up, Joe, my boy."

"Only the shark give it up as a bad job, my lad. That stroke of yours finished him, and he come up just in time for us to get you into the boat and pump the wind into you again--leastwise the doctor did."

"The best way to restore respiration, captain."

"When you've tried my plan first, my lad," replied the captain. "What is it drowns folks, eh? Why, water. Too much water, eh? Well, my plan is to hold up head down'ards and feet in the air till all the salt-water has runned out."

"The surest way to kill a half-drowned person, captain," said the doctor authoritatively.

"Mebbe it is, mebbe it isn't," said the captain surlily. "All I know is that I've brought lots back to life that way, and rolling 'em on barrels."