370 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



begrimed with the outboard trawling, six months 

 of weed on our keel, and rolling in the swells for 

 no apparent reason except for an inexplicable steel 

 cable leading obliquely down into the blue depths. 

 We rather looked forward to the excitement of 

 keeping up our mysterious character until we were 

 boarded by this bootlegger policeman. We even 

 anticipated offering the officer a cocktail, thereby 

 breaking no law of which we were aware — being 

 one hundred miles out at sea and having gauged 

 our Panama supply exactly up to the last moment 

 before landing in New York. But the cutter's 

 captain knew what he was about and had evidently 

 been expecting us, for as he encircled us he dipped 

 his ensign and saluted us with the usual three 

 blasts. The unexpected compliment thrilled us 

 and we answered with the deepest basso profundo 

 roars of which our whistle was capable. 



During the succeeding four days and nights 

 which we spent drifting over the gorge we had not 

 a moment's idleness from lack of specimens. 

 Throughout the day we kept up constant trawl- 

 ing or dredging, and at night trawled with small 

 surface nets or harpooned and netted fish and 

 other creatures from the pulpit and gangway. 

 Even before the stormy petrels discovered us, we 

 were a source of food supply ; the sharks came and 

 circled us eagerly — not in hopes of any human who 

 might by chance fall overboard — I had exploded 

 this myth pretty thoroughly in my intimate asso- 

 ciation with them during the last six months — but 

 on the lookout for garbage. 



