"Alexander," said Madame, "if I have any more of your wut I shall send for my gun. From your description it would appear that the remora is rather a formidable pet."
"That is so. The galley of Marcus Antoninus was pulled by the remora against the efforts of a hundred rowers."
"Whew!" whistled Madame. "One might as well go a-fishing with a Kraken."
"But, Madame," broke in Ching. "A remora is not often more than two feet long. It is a powerful beast for its size."
"So it would appear. My brain whirls. A fish two feet long which can pull a galley against a hundred rowers must be of considerable horsepower. And yet Willie's boy has tethered it to a stone. It is true that he has not revealed the size of the stone—it must be as big as yonder mountain."
"The beast is fabulous," observed Ewing.
"No," said Ching, "Echeneis Remora is a well-known fish."
"Willie," appealed Madame in despair. "Lead me to your captive. These experts will drive me frantic."
Willatopy led her about a hundred yards, and showed to her a fish, less than two feet long, wriggling about in a shallow pool. A string had been fastened near its forked tail, and the stone, which held it captive, weighed some five pounds. Willie pointed to the curious, palpitating organ, some five inches long, upon the shoulders of the fish by means of which it could adhere by suction to a turtle or to a boat. Hence the name "sucker."
"That is a remora," observed Ching.