The Ocean Waifs Part 22

CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

THE SWORDSMAN OF THE SEA.

While William was gazing upon the strange fish, it was seen all at once to make a rush in the direction of the raft. They could hear a "swis.h.i.+ng" sound, as its huge body pa.s.sed through the water, at the same time that its great scimitar-shaped dorsal fin, projecting above the surface, rapidly traced a rippling line through the whole of its course.

The dash was evidently directed against the shoal of albacore swimming alongside the _Catamaran_.

But these creatures were constantly on the alert. Although exhibiting every symptom of fright, they did not seem for an instant to lose their presence of mind; and as the sword-fish was seen rus.h.i.+ng towards them, all turned as if by a common impulse, and, quick as lightning, pa.s.sed to the other side of the raft.

The sword-fish, seeing himself foiled, checked the velocity of his charge with a suddenness that displayed his great natatory powers; and, instead of pursuing the albacores under the _Catamaran_, he continued to follow after the craft, in a sort of skulking, cowardly fas.h.i.+on,--as if he designed to use stratagem rather than strength in the capture of his prey.

It soon became evident to little William that the albacores had sought the companions.h.i.+p of the _Catamaran_ less from the idea of obtaining any droppings there might be from her decks, than as a protection against their formidable pursuer,--the sword-fish. Indeed, this is most probably the reason why not only the albacores and their kindred the bonitos, but several other kinds of shoal-fish, attach themselves to s.h.i.+ps, whales, and other large objects, that they may encounter floating or sailing upon the open ocean.

The mode in which the sword-fish makes his attack,--by rus.h.i.+ng irresistibly upon his prey, and impaling it on his long, slender beak,-- is full of risk to himself; for should his "sword" come in contact with the sides of a s.h.i.+p, or any substance of sufficient strength to withstand his impetuous "thrust," the chances are that the weapon either gets broken off altogether, or so embedded that the owner of it falls a victim to his rash voracity.

Under the excitement of fear, and occupied in watching the movements of their enemy, s...o...b..ll knew there was no chance of the albacores paying any attention to the hooks he had baited for them. Instead, therefore, of throwing them over the side, he permitted them to lie upon the planks, and waited until the sword-fish should either take his departure or fall far enough into the wake of the _Catamaran_ to permit, on the part of the creatures swimming alongside, a temporary forgetfulness of his presence.

"It am no use trowin' dem de hook," said he, addressing himself to the sailor, "no use jess yet, so long de sharp snout am dar. We mus' wait till he go out ob dar sight an out ob dar hearin too."

"I suppose we must," rejoined Ben; "that be a pity too. They'd bite greedy enough, if the ugly thing warn't there. That I know, for I've seed 'em many's the time."

This was not the only bit of information concerning the albacore and their enemy communicated by the sailor to his companions on the raft, but more especially to his _protege_, who, feeling a strange interest in those creatures, had asked several questions concerning them. During the interval, while they were waiting for some change in the tactics of the pursuer,--hoping that he might get ahead and abandon the pursuit,-- Ben imparted to his audience several chapters of his experience,--in which either albacore or sword-fish, and sometimes both, had figured as the princ.i.p.al actors. Among others, he related an anecdote of a s.h.i.+p in which he had sailed having been pierced by the beak of a sword-fish.

At the time the incident occurred there was no one on board who had any suspicion of its nature. The crew were below at their dinner; when one of the sailors who chanced to be on deck heard a loud splas.h.i.+ng in the water. On looking over the s.h.i.+p's side, and seeing a large body just sinking below the surface, the sailor supposed it to be some one of the crew who had gone over, and instantly raised the cry of "A man overboard!"

The crew were paraded; when it was ascertained that no one was missing.

Though the sailors were at a loss to account for the singular appearance, the alarm soon subsided; and nothing more was thought of the matter. Shortly after, one of the men,--Ben Brace himself, it was,-- chanced to ascend the rigging; and while aloft he perceived a rugged ma.s.s projecting from the side of the s.h.i.+p, just below the water line.

On a boat being lowered and the thing examined, it proved to be the _rostrum_ of a sword-fish, broken off from the animal's head. It was the body of the animal,--no doubt, killed by the concussion,--which the sailor had seen sinking in the water.

The "sword" had pierced completely through the copper sheathing and solid timbers of the larboard bow of the s.h.i.+p; and on the sailors going below, they found eight or ten inches of its top projecting into the inside, embedded among some coals contained in the hold!

Singular as the sailor's story might appear, it was not in the least an exaggeration. s...o...b..ll knew it was not: for the ex-sea-cook could have told of like experiences; and William was also satisfied of its truth, from having read the account of a similar incident, and heard that the evidences of it,--that is, a piece of the solid wood of the s.h.i.+p's timbers, with the sword imbedded in it,--were to be seen at any time in the British Museum.

Just as Ben had finished his curious relation, a movement upon the part of the pursuer told an intention of changing his tactics,--not as if he was about to retreat, but rather to a.s.sume a bolder att.i.tude of offence.

The sight of such a fine shoal of fat albacores,--so near and yet so long keeping clear of his attack, appeared to have tantalised him to a point beyond endurance; and, being extra hungry, perhaps he was determined to dine upon them, _coute qui coute_.

With this intent he drew nearer to the _Catamaran_ swooping from quarter to quarter, then along the sides, and once or twice darting ahead, so as to create in the shoal a degree of excitement that might force them into irregularity of action.

This very effect he at length succeeded in producing; for the pretty creatures became more frightened than ever; and instead of swimming, as. .h.i.therto, in concert, and parallel to each other as they had been doing, they got huddled into a crowd, and commenced darting, pell-mell, in every direction.

In the midst of their confusion a large band became separated,--not only from the others, but from the _Catamaran_,--and fell several fathoms'

length into the wake of the craft.

Upon these the hungry eyes of the prowling monster were now fixed; but only for a moment: for in the next he was charging down among them with a velocity that caused the water to spray upwards against his dorsal fin, while the rus.h.i.+ng sound made by his body could be heard afar off over the ocean, "Look, Will'm!" cried Ben, anxious that his _protege_ should not miss seeing the curious spectacle. "Look, lad! yonder's a sight worth seein'. s.h.i.+ver my timbers, if he han't got a brace o' 'em on his toastin' fork!"

While Ben was speaking, the sword-fish had charged into the middle of the frightened flock. There was a momentary plas.h.i.+ng,--as several of the albacores leaped up out of the water and fell back again,--there was a surging and bubbling over a few yards of surface, which hindered a clearer view of what was pa.s.sing; and then outside reappeared the sword-fish, with his long weapon projected above the water, and a brace of the beautiful albacores impaled upon its point!

The wretched creatures were struggling to free themselves from their painful position; but their struggles were not for long. They were terminated almost on the instant,--by the sword-fish giving a quick jerk of his head, and tossing, first one and then the other of his victims high into the air!

As they came down again, it was to fall, not upon the water, but into the throat of the voracious tyrant; who, although toothless and without any means of masticating, made shorter work of it by introducing them _untoothed_, and at a single gulp, into his capacious maw!

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.

ANGLING FOR ALBACORE.

After a while the crew of the _Catamaran_ watched the manoeuvres of the sword-fish with a degree of interest that almost caused them to forget their own forlorn situation. Little William and Lilly Lalee were especially delighted with the singular spectacle; and long after the sailor and s...o...b..ll had turned their attention to other and more necessary matters, the two stood side by side gazing out upon the ocean in the direction in which the sea-swordsman had been seen.

We say _had been_ seen: for, after swallowing the brace of albacores, the voracious monster had suddenly disappeared, either by diving deep down into the sea, or shooting off to some distant point.

Little William and Lalee looked everywhere,--first astern, where the swordsman had made the display of his skill; then on both sides; and, finally, ahead. They looked in these different directions,--because, from what they had already seen of its natative powers, they knew that the great fish could pa.s.s in a few seconds through a hundred fathoms of water, and therefore was as likely to be on one side as the other.

On no side, however, could the fish be seen; and, although both the sailor-lad and Lalee would have been pleased to witness a little more of that same sword exercise, they were at length forced to the conclusion that the performance was over and the performer gone away,--perhaps, to exhibit his prowess in some other quarter of the aquatic world.

"Berry like,--berry like he gone way," said s...o...b..ll, in reply to the interrogatory of little William. "A good ting if dat am de fack; fo'

den we hab chance to hook up some o' dese hya abbacore. See dem now!

Doan' you see how berry different dey are behavin'. Dey no longer 'feerd. Dat am sign dat de long snout hab turn him nose in some oder direcshun. He gone fo' sartin."

Sure enough the _behaviour_ of the albacores was very much altered, as s...o...b..ll had affirmed. Instead of flas.h.i.+ng about from one side of the raft to the other, and exhibiting manifest symptoms of alarm, they now swam placidly alongside, at a regular rate of speed, just keeping up with the _Catamaran_.

They looked, moreover, as if they would now take the bait, which during the presence of the sword-fish they had obstinately refused to touch, though frequently flung, both by s...o...b..ll and the sailor, right under their snouts.

Both were again preparing to repeat their angling operations; and in a few seconds' time each had his hook ready, with a piece of shark-meat temptingly attached to it, the bait being rendered still more attractive from having a little shred of scarlet flannel looped around the shank of the hook, while several fathoms of stout sennit-cord served as trolling-lines.

Plash into the water went the two baited hooks, both at once; and, almost before the ripples caused by the plunge had ceased to circle upon the surface, a still louder plas.h.i.+ng could be heard, and a much rougher ripple seen,--in short, a large s.p.a.ce of the surface agitated into foam, where a brace of albacores were fluking and struggling on the respective hooks of s...o...b..ll and the sailor.

Right rapidly were they hauled aboard, and their struggles brought to a termination by a smart tap on the head administered to each in succession, by a handspike, which had suddenly found its way into the grasp of the sailor.

No time was thrown away in contemplating the captives, or triumphing over their capture. Little William and Lalee alone examined the two beautiful creatures thus brought within their reach; while s...o...b..ll and the sailor, rapidly readjusting the baits upon their hooks, that had been slightly disarranged by the teeth of the _tunnies_,--for the albacore is a species of tunny fish,--once more flung them forth.

This time the baits were not so greedily "grabbed" at. As if the "school" had become suspicious, they all for a considerable time fought shy of it; but, as it was trolled so temptingly under their very snouts, first one and then another began to make approach,--now nearer and nearer, one or two taking a nibble at it, and then dropping it again, and suddenly shying off,--as if they had discovered something unpleasant either in its taste or touch.

This delicate nibbling continued for several minutes when, at length, an albacore more courageous than its companions, or perhaps with an emptier stomach than the rest, at sight of the tempting morsel suddenly took leave of his discretion; and, darting forward, seized the bait upon Ben's hook, swallowing bait, hook, and several inches of the sennit-cord, at a single gulp!

There was no danger of its being able to detach itself from that hook.

The barb was already fast in its entrails before Ben gave the jerk to secure it. Another jerk brought the fish out of its native element, landing it amids.h.i.+ps on board the _Catamaran_, where, like its two predecessors, it was instantly knocked on the head.

s...o...b..ll continued to "troll" his line in the most approved fas.h.i.+on; and was soon again joined by his brother "piscator," who, after settling the scores with the second fish he had caught, had adjusted a fresh bait, and once more flung his line into the water.

For some reason or other, the albacores became suddenly shy,--not as if alarmed at the action of the anglers, but rather from having their attention attracted to some other object invisible to the eyes of those on the _Catamaran_. The fish were so near the raft, that every movement made by them could be easily observed,--even to the glancing of their silvery irides,--and those who observed them could see that they were looking aloft.

Up went the eyes of the _Catamarans_, both anglers and idlers turning their glances towards the sky. There was nothing to be seen there,--at least, nothing to account for the shyness of the fish, or the upward cast of their eyeb.a.l.l.s. So thought three of the party,--little William, Lalee, and the sailor,--who beheld only the blue, cloudless canopy of the heavens.

s...o...b..ll, however, whose single experience of ocean-life was greater than the sum total of the other three twice told, did not, like the rest, desist all at once from his scrutiny of the sky, but remained gazing with upturned look for period of several minutes.