The Ocean Waifs Part 24

In a short while they were so low that the scarlet pouch under the throat of the male was easily recognisable, swollen out like a goitre; while the elegant conformation of the birds, with their long, scimitar-shaped wings, and slender forked tails, was sharply defined against the blue background of the sky.

The albacores no longer took any notice of the baited hooks; but, instead, commenced darting through the water in various directions, until they had got scattered about over the sea.

Was it fear of the predatory birds hovering above that was producing this change in their tactics?

It could not be that. They did not appear to be acting under any alarm; but rather as if prowling in search of something not yet visible either to them or to those who were watching them from the deck of the _Catamaran_.

Ben Brace and s...o...b..ll knew the fish were not frightened by the presence of the birds; but William, whose experience of sea-life was more limited,--although the albacores did not look alarmed,--thought, doubtingly, that they were so.

"Surely," said he, appealing to his older companions, "such big fish needn't be scared of them?"

As he put the interrogatory, he pointed upward to the two birds, now within a hundred fathoms of the surface. "Surely they can't kill an albacore? If they did, they could never swallow it, I should think?"

"'T ain't the albacore they be after," replied Ben Brace, "nor be the albacore afeerd o' them,--not a bit. There be another sort o' fishes not far away, though we can't see 'em. No more do these sky-blue chaps as be swimming around us. They be now lookin' for 'em,--mighty sharp, as ye see; an' they'll be sartin to scare 'em up in three shakes o' a shark's tail."

"What other sort of fish?" inquired William.

"Flyin'-fish, lad; same's you an' I made our first meal on, when we wur wellnigh starvin'. There's a school not far off. The frigates has spied 'em from aloft, an' that's what's brought them hoverin' over.

They've seed the albacores too; and as they know that these preys on the flyin'-fish, they've come down to be nearer thar game. Unless the albacores get thar eyes on the winged fish, and run down among 'em, there'll be no chance for the frigates. They can do nothin' till t'

other jumps 'em out o' the water. The sky-blues don't seem to see 'em yet; but I dare say it'll not be long afore they do, judgin' by their manoeuvres. Thar! Didn't I tell thee, lad? See yonder! They be off after something."

As the sailor spoke, several of the albacores were seen suddenly heading in a direction parallel to the course of the _Catamaran_ and pa.s.sing rapidly through the transparent water.

In an instant after, several white objects were seen springing up before them, which, after glancing for a moment in the air, plunged back again into the water.

Not any of the _Catamaran's_ crew were ignorant of the character of these objects. The silvery sheen of translucent wings, as they glittered under the bright sunbeams, proclaimed the creatures to be a "flock" of flying-fish, of which the albacores--of all their many enemies the most dangerous--were now in pursuit.

There may have been several of the flying-fish that did not rise into the air, but fell a prey to their pursuers under the water; and of those that did succeed in springing above the surface there were two that never came down again,--at least not in the shape of flying-fish.

The sea-hawks, wheeling above both pursuers and pursued, had been watching their opportunity; and as the pretty creatures made their appearance above water, both the birds swooped straight down among the prinkling cohort, each selecting a victim. Both made a successful swoop; for they were observed to turn and fly with a slant upwards, each with a flying-fish in its beak.

One of them, the male bird, didn't appear to be satisfied with the hold he had taken; for, with a sudden jerk of his head, he let go again, pitched the prey several feet upward, and again as it came down took a fresh "grip" upon it.

No doubt this was to his satisfaction, for almost in the same instant that the flying-fish returned within the mandibles of his beak it disappeared, wings and all, down that dark pa.s.sage, where, no doubt, many another of its kind had preceded it.

It was evident that neither of the birds considered one flying-fish sufficient for a meal; for as soon as they had swallowed those already taken, they again placed themselves in position for shooting down upon a second victim.

And now the crew of the _Catamaran_ had the fortune to witness one of those singular incidents that may sometimes be seen upon the ocean,--a little drama of Nature, in which three of her creatures,--all three differing in kind,--formed the _dramatis persona_.

The c.o.c.k frigate-bird, on turning to look for a fresh victim, espied one, or that which was likely to become one, almost directly beneath him.

It was a single flying-fish, which by some chance,--perhaps from not being either so fast a swimmer or so swift upon the wing as its fellows,--had lagged behind the "school."

It was no longer playing laggard, and for a very good reason: since an albacore, nearly full three feet in length, was swimming after it and doing his very best to overtake it. Both were exerting every bit of muscular strength that lay in their fins,--the former to make its escape, the latter to prevent this consummation.

It was evident, however, to those on board the _Catamaran_, that the pursuer was gaining upon the pursued; and this at length became also evident to the flying-fish. The tiny creature, as it cut through the clear water, could be seen quivering with fear; and the spectators looked to see it shoot upward into the air, and thus disappoint the greedy tyrant at its tail.

No doubt this would have been the very course of conduct for the flying-fish to have pursued; and no doubt it was on the eve of adopting it, when, all at once, the long, shadowy wings and outstretched neck of the frigate-bird were seen outlined above.

The sight was sufficient to keep the fish under water a while longer, but only a very little while. Above were that ugly red pouch and craning neck; below, those hideous jaws, ready to open and engulf it.

There seemed no chance of escape. It was only a question of choice as to the mode of death: whether it would prefer to become food for a fish, or be devoured by a bird.

As, in itself, it partook a little of the nature of, or, at all events, of the habits of both, there was not much to choose between them; but whether it did not desire to deliver itself over to the enemy most like to itself, or whether it was that the latter was now so near as to be almost certain of seizing it, it declared its preference for the bird by making a sudden spring which carried it clear out of the water, and into the air.

The sea-hawk hovering above in eager expectation lost no time in making the attempt to secure it; but whether he was too sure of his prize, or from some other unexplained reason, certain it is that he gave a practical ill.u.s.tration of the old and well-known adage about the cup and the lip, by failing to clutch the prey.

He was seen darting towards it with open beak,--his talons cruelly extended for its capture; but, notwithstanding all his activity, the white object that shot glittering past him, and dropped into the sea far beyond, proclaimed to the Catamarans that the _Exocetus_ had escaped.

CHAPTER FIFTY.

s...o...b..LL MAKING A SOMERSAULT.

And now all eyes were turned towards the sea-hawk, and became fixed upon him with glances that expressed surprise; for, instead of again soaring upward, and renewing his pursuit either of the creature that he had so clumsily permitted to escape him, or some other of its kind, the bird was seen to stay down upon the surface of the sea,--his wings spread to their full extent, and flapping the water with such violence as to raise the spray in a thick cloud over and around him!

He was heard, too, giving utterance to loud and repeated screams,--not in the tone of a conqueror; but as if he was in danger of being vanquished, or had already become the victim of some ocean tyrant stronger than himself!

For some seconds this inexplicable movement,--a struggle it seemed,-- continued; not in one place, but over a s.p.a.ce of many square yards of surface,--which appeared to be also agitated by the exertions of some creature underneath; the bird all the while repeating its cries, and beating the water into froth, like a huge pelican at play!

The crew of the _Catamaran_, utterly unable to account for this strange conduct on the part of the old c.o.c.k, stood upon the deck of their craft, looking on with feelings of intense astonishment.

Even s...o...b..ll, who thought himself _au fait_ to every incident of ocean-life, was surprised and puzzled equally with the rest.

"What be the matter wi' the creetur, Snowy?" inquired Ben, thinking s...o...b..ll could explain its odd behaviour. "The frigate 'pears to ha'

got on its beam-end; s.h.i.+ver my timbers if 't ain't goin' to founder!"

"s.h.i.+bber ma timber, too," rejoined s...o...b..ll, rudely pirating the sailor's favourite s.h.i.+bboleth; "s.h.i.+bber 'um, if dis n.i.g.g.a know what am de matter. Golly! someting got de ole hawk by de legs,--dat seem sartin. Maybe 'um be shark, maybe 'um be long-nose--de--"

s...o...b..ll was going to say "sword-fish," had he been permitted to finish his speech. But he was not; for while in the act of its delivery, with the whites of his eyes rolling in conjectural wonder, something from below struck the plank, upon which he was standing, and with such a shock that the piece of timber was started from its fastenings, and impelled suddenly upwards,--not only knocking the ex-sea-cook out of his perpendicular position, but pitching him, as from a catapult, clear across the _Catamaran_, and into the sea on the opposite side!

This was not all. The plank from which s...o...b..ll had been projected instantly fell back into its place,--in consequence of its being one of the heaviest pieces of timber in the raft,--but instead of remaining there, it was again seen to shoot upward, then fall back upon the water, as if dragged down by a powerful but invisible hand,--the hand of some sea-G.o.d or demon,--perhaps of Neptune himself!

Not only the plank, but the whole raft moved under this inexplicable impulsion,--which had communicated to it a rocking motion, not from side to side, but upwards and downwards! So quick and violent was this mysterious oscillation, that it was with difficulty the three individuals who still occupied the decks of the craft could keep either their balance or their feet.

Along with the motion of the raft there was a corresponding commotion in the water,--accompanied by a loud splas.h.i.+ng noise that seemed to proceed from under the timbers, on which, like so many acrobats, they were endeavouring to balance themselves; and in a few seconds after they had felt the great shock, the sea all around exhibited a surface of high waves crested with foam!

s...o...b..ll, who had risen to the surface after the somersault that had plunged him deep down into the sea, perceiving that the raft still continued to heave upward and downward, made no attempt to get on board; but swimming alongside, sputtered forth his terrified e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns.

Even the brave man-o'-war's-man, who had faced death in a thousand shapes, was, at that moment, the victim of fear.

How could it be otherwise? He could think of nothing in nature capable of causing that mysterious commotion and who, without trembling, could withstand the a.s.saults of the supernatural?

"s.h.i.+ver my timbers!" cried Ben, himself s.h.i.+vering as he spoke the words, "what in old Nick's name has got under us? Be it a whale that's b.u.mpin'

its back against the rail? Or--"

Before he could p.r.o.nounce the second interrogatory, a loud crash sounded in the ears of all,--as if the plank heaving so mysteriously had been suddenly torn in twain!

This sound, whatever had caused it, seemed to proclaim the climax of the commotion: for immediately after the _Catamaran_ began to compose herself, the waves caused by her continued rocking gradually grew less, until at length, once more "righted," she lay in her customary position upon the tranquil surface of the sea.