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Outofffie 



thresher," said the skipper. "He'll gouge 

 them jaws into a whale or porp'se with a 

 twist o' his tail, and rip out a bite that would 

 fill a bucket. There he is ! " 



The whale shot out of the depths and 

 breached clear of the water in his upward 

 rush. As he fell back there was the same 

 flash and wriggle beside him, the same leap 

 as of a bent spring, the same heavy blow and 

 moan. Then something else appeared, dart- 

 ing up like a ray of light, and the long blade 

 of a swordfish ripped through the whale's 

 side. The force of his attack brought the 

 big fish to the surface, where we saw his 

 shoulders plainly and caught the flash of 

 light on his terrible weapon as he turned to 

 dive beneath his victim. The whale sounded 

 again, turning fair on end, with the thresher 

 leaping over him, or standing on his head 

 to strike down a last terrible blow, as the 

 huge victim sought blindly for an abyss deep 

 enough to escape the lash and sting of his 

 enemies. 



The schooner fell awavin the light evening - 



wind, and the rush of the uncouth tragedy ~- T= ^~ if 



