84 THE KINGDOM OF THE HELMET 



and then fired. Again and again I have had proof that the 

 discharge of the cap can take place five feet away, in full 

 view, and do no harm to the glass in the helmet. But I 

 am still nervous about it, for the shock is severe on my 

 body, giving a sharp, electrical tingling. So whenever pos- 

 sible I am glad to take advantage of some protective shelter, 

 either a coral head, or, as in this case, even a sea-fan. 



I fired and saw no trace of the coney, but an interesting- 

 sized, sharp-nosed puffer, hitherto unseen, suddenly ap- 

 peared, belly up, near at hand. I netted him and, letting 

 the pole and discharged cap be drawn up, I crept around 

 the boulder and looked for my coney in the deep crevice 

 beyond. I had to peer in from several angles, and was 

 leaning far over, when a great, gray crescent shoved in 

 beside me. I straightened up and saw that it was the snout 

 of a five-foot shark, which had materialized from nowhere, 

 attracted by the smell of the meat and the cloud of debris, 

 and now was as interested as myself in getting at the 

 stunned fish. A moment later the shark pushed ahead stUl 

 farther, directly across my hand, and I saw that my puflfer 

 had slipped from the net, and that the slanting eyes of the 

 shark had perceived it. It was attempting to work itself 

 past and against my leaning body. This was too much, 

 and I shifted my grip on my net, and stabbed down with 

 the handle with all my force, directly on the rounded 

 snout. A terrific swirl of water a few feet away showed 

 where the tail fin had gone into reverse, the shark backed 

 out, then turned upward and undulated over my head 



