The Unnatural History of the Sea i8i 



He swore that day by the fodder hay of the Great Jeehookibus 



whale, 

 By the Big Skedunk, an' he bit a hunk from the edge of an iron 



pail, 

 For he knowed the reason the fish had dodged, an' he swore us 



stiff an' stark 

 As he durned the eyes an' liver an' lights of a shag-eyed skulkin' 



shark. 

 Then we baited a line all good an' fine an' slung 'er over the side, 

 An' the shark took holt with a dreadful jolt, an' he yanked an' 



chanked an' tried 

 To jerk it out, but we held him stout so he couldn't duck nor swim. 

 An' we h'isted him over — that old sea rover— we'd business there 



with him. 



A-yoopin' for air he laid on deck, an' the skipper he says, says he : 

 " You're the wust, dog-gondest, mis'able hog that swims the whole 



durn sea. 

 'Mongst gents as is gents it's a standin' rule to leave each gent his 



own — ■ 

 If ye note as ye pass he's havin' a cinch, stand off an' leave him 



alone. 

 But you've slobbered along where you don't belong, an' you've 



gone an' spiled the thing, 

 An' now, by the pink-tailed Wah-hoo fish, you'll take your dose, 



by jing! " 

 So, actin' by orders, the cook fetched up our biggest knife on board. 

 An' he ripped that shark in his 'midship bilge; then the Old Man 



he explored. 

 An' after a while, with a nasty smile, he giv' a yank an' twist, 

 "Hurroo!" yells he, an' then we see the liver clinched in his fist. 

 Still actin' by orders, the cook fetched out his needle an' biggest 



twine — 

 With a herrin' bone stitch sewed up that shark, all right an' 



tight an' fine. 

 We throwed him back with a mighty smack, an' the look as he 



swum away 

 Was the most reproachful kind of a look I've seen for many a day. 

 An' the liver was throwed in the scuttle-butt, to keep it all fresh 



an' cool. 

 Then we up with our sheet an' off we beat, a-chasin' that mackerel 



school. 



We sailed all day in a criss-cross way, but the school it skipped 



an' skived, 

 It dodged an' ducked, an' backed an' bucked, an' scotted an' swum 



an' dived. 

 An' we couldn't catch 'em, the best we'd do — an' oh, how the Old 



Man swore ! 

 He went an' he gargled his throat in ile, 'twas peeled so raw and 



sore. 

 But at last, 'way off at the edge of the sea, we suddenly chanced 



to spy 



