"I didn't say that. I said I doubted its ever living on land. I really don't see how it could, though of course it might possibly be there. This is a case when there is a difference between being and living."
"What was it doing when you saw it?" asked Jennie.
"It was headed for the harbor, I should say."
"Then it might have been a ship or a boat." Jennie began to think she was getting some light.
"You are a very clever child, Miss Ramsey, but your intuitions fail you upon this occasion."
"Then we give it up. We did give it up, Ben, you know, and then you started us guessing again. What was it?"
"It was about five feet long, I should judge," Ben went on thoughtfully, and as if he had no idea of their having stopped guessing. "Its body was reared some distance above the water, but it was making its way very successfully, I thought."
"It was a dog!" cried Edna triumphantly.
"Of course it was," echoed the others. [105] Ben heaved a long sigh. "How mistaken persons can be when they are sure they are right. I admit that if I were writing about this object you might think I was writing about a dog, but I wouldn't be because it was not a dog."
"Then it was a horse or some kind of animal." Dorothy was very sure of this.