THE WILD. 



face, and telling the villain all the while, with 

 uncouth maledictions, that his time is coming. 

 The mate is on the jib-boom wielding the grains, 

 whose trident-prongs he has been for the last half 

 hour sharpening with a file, ready to take by 

 force any one of the hated race who may be too 

 suspicious for the bait astern. And now the 

 skipper himself comes up, for even dignity itself 

 cannot resist the temptation, and with his own 

 brawny hands puts on the enticing pork, and 

 lowers away. 



'Tis twirling and eddying in the wash of the 

 ship's counter; the crew are divided in their alle- 

 giance — half cluster at the quarter to watch the 

 captain's success, half at the cat-heads to see the 

 mate's harpooning. There scuttle up the two 

 little pilot-fishes, in their banded livery of blue and 

 brown, from their station one on each side of the 

 shark's nose: they hurry to the bait, sniff* at it, 

 nibble at it, and then back in all haste to their 

 huge patron, giving his grimness due information 

 of the treat that awaits him. See how eagerly he 

 receives it ! with a lateral wave of his powerful 

 tail he shoots ahead, and is in an instant at the 

 pork. "Look out there I stand by to take a turn 

 of the line round a belaying pin, for he's going to 

 bite, and he'll give us a sharp tugl'' Every pair 

 of eyes is wide open, and every mouth, too ; for 

 the monster turns on his side, and prepares to 

 take in the delicate morsel. But no ; he smells the 

 rusty iron, perhaps, or perhaps he sees the line ; at 

 any rate he contents himself with a sniff, and 

 drops astern ; coming forward again, however, the 

 next minute to sniff and sniff again. 'Tis per- 

 ilous; yet 'tis tempting. 



A shout forward 1 The mate has struck one I 

 And away rush the after band to see the sport; 

 14 209 



