4 
THE SEA-SERPENT. 
ond-cousin to this one, and he, I fear, was n’t 
much better than such beasts should be. 
hi. 
If you dare to go down to the beach all alone, 
the ladies will tell what a hero you ’ve grown ; or 
if for a swim after tea you incline, when the moon 
on the waves makes swimming divine, you will 
think — O, how often I ’ve thought so before ! — 
u If his Snakeship should come, why, my last swim 
is o’er ” ; and though I can’t prove it, I have n’t 
a doubt, that some of those men who so boldly 
strike out in the surf, and who never come up 
from the waves, find something more fearful than 
watery graves. However, the story that I’m 
going to tell you is one that the bookstores wont 
soon again sell you. ’T will be funny and horrid, 
and horrid and funny, and you ’ll laughingly own 
that the worth of your money you ’ve had, for 
’t will teach you this lesson, — to take at the sea¬ 
side great care, lest you ’re caught by the 
snake ! 2 
