72 How Sammy Went to Coral-Land 
teeth, and to see him turn on his side, 
and open those jaws was enough to give 
you cold chills for a week. 
“ The good food that we got from our 
ship usually kept the White Shark in a 
fairly good humor, but, knowing him as 
I did, I was well aware that if the food 
should happen to run short, he would not 
hesitate to make a meal off of me ; and 
although I am an excellent swimmer, 
and stood a good chance of being able to 
escape (else I should have never been 
there at all), still there was always a pos¬ 
sibility of something unpleasant happen¬ 
ing, and it got to be rather wearing. 
“ So, one day when we were following a 
particularly promising vessel, I made an 
excuse to stay behind, while the White 
Shark went on alone, and when he and 
the ship were both out of sight, I 
took the opportunity to escape. Since 
