ENEMIES ASHORE AND AFLOAT. 15 



looking upon this little harbor as my own peculiar 

 property, perfectly safe, secluded from the world, that 

 I no more thought of taking any precautions than I 

 would have done in a bath tub. But danger is always 

 lurking in our paths, ready to take us unawares, espe- 

 cially in a strange country. This particular danger 

 was the result of my own carelessness, too ; I had 

 nobody but myself to blame. That is one of the 

 worst phases of a solitary life; you don't have any 

 one else to blame for your misfortunes. 



Well, it had become a habit with me, whenever I 

 cleaned a fish, to leave the refuse on the beach for 

 the gulls and sea swallows to eat. By this means I 

 had made them so tame that they came flying over 

 whenever they saw me approach the water, saluting 

 me with joyous screams. This was very delightful 

 to me in my solitude ; but the presence of the fish 

 bait and the noise of the birds attracted other denizens 

 of the water, and came near being my destruction. 



One morning, while I was floating placidly on the 

 water, my face upturned to the sky, I felt the ap- 

 proach of danger. Quickly raising my head, I saw a 

 great gray ghost approaching^an immense shark, 

 swimming swiftly and silently, his erect back fin 

 hardly making a ripple on the surface of the water ! 

 Then there was* a sudden swirl in the water as he 

 turned half over to seize my extended arm. A thrill 

 of terror shot through me. 



He misseii me by scarcely a handbreadth as I 

 scrambled for the shore ; but fortunately I was in 

 shallow water, and so evaded him and regained the 



