small in size and generally inoffensive except for 

 the havoc they wrought when entangled in my 

 nets — the sudden sight of this rare visitor from the 

 reaches of the broad Atlantic was not without a 

 thrill. Indeed, had I not been nearly inured to 

 unexpected encounters, this apparition probably 

 would have been provocative of more than merely 

 a thrill — doubtless it would have frozen my blood. 

 Even so, frankness compels the full admission that 

 previous training was at that instant forgotten; 

 my usual matter-of-factness in meeting with this 

 huge wanderer was woefully disturbed; in short, 

 such was the suddenness of this revelation of the 

 night that it came with a transient, but distinct, 

 shock. And yet it was not the nature of this notori- 

 ous beast that struck the passing note of terror in 

 my heart: what startled was its seemingly enor- 

 mous size. Actually a full seven feet long, it 

 loomed up in the shallow depths as large or larger 

 than our tiny craft. A blow from the tail of a crea- 

 ture of even lesser bulk would have been serious 

 business, perhaps preventing our reaching the an- 

 chored Hippocampus without an arduous swim, to 

 say nothing of the loss sustained. 



Something of these apprehensions escaped my 



[200] 



