Adventures of the Explorers 137 



the end of the jibboom and then, after getting the 

 lance in hand, to charge down the spar and attack 

 the three natives single handed. 



To this proposition the mate gave ready con- 

 sent, but when the boy in the rigging tried to climb 

 up and cut the stay he was unable to do so, for 

 he had been weakened by fright and the fatigue 

 of his previous work. 



As the ship was now forging slowly ahead, the 

 two boats pulled to a station off the bows where 

 they lay idle, silently watching the sharks that 

 had been attracted in schools by the carcass of 

 the whale beside the ship. Finally, when night 

 came, Clough once more offered to venture alone 

 upon the ship, and the mate once more con- 

 sented. 



Stripping naked, the young officer took the boat 

 knife in his teeth, slipped over the side of the boat, 

 and began working his way through the water 

 toward the stern of the ship. The water was 

 full of sharks, two of them swam slowly beside 

 him as he made his way, but he continued un- 

 til he was beside the ship's rudder. Up this he 

 clambered and then passed in through the cabin 



