Big Game at Sea 



One day the shark entered the harbor late in the 

 afternoon and swam in the direction of the anchor- 

 age, a huge uncanny menace. The crew of one ship 

 were in bathing. They had a topgallant sail over- 

 board and were swimming in it suspecting the pres- 

 ence of sharks. The man-eater swam beneath and 

 around it and was seized with a frenzy at the scent 

 that drifted away. He began to swim rapidly, first 

 in one direction, then in another, circling the ship 

 about twenty feet below the surface, then rising. At 

 this time one of the sailors, more venturesome than 

 the rest, swam out into the channel, and the shark 

 catching the scent, swung its tail from side to side 

 and darted upward, baring its notched fin to the sun- 

 light. 



" Ahoy there ! " came from the foretop. " Come 

 aboard I" 



The lookout did not utter the word shark, but the 

 swimmer turned and struck out. 



" Way third cutter! " rang out from the quarter- 

 master. 



The boat struck the water with a crash, naked 

 men fell into her and seizing the oars gave way. 

 Men never pulled like this before ; yet the man in the 

 bow, boat-hook in hand, urged them on in God's 

 name. The swimmer was still twenty feet away when 

 the shark shot ahead assuming a titanic shape. He 

 turned slightly though not upon his back, and for 

 a second the man in the bow saw its ghastly form 



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