Around the World in Ten Days

by Chelsea Curtis Fraser

Mr. Giddings and the boys were all excited at the thought of getting a harpoon into a huge leopard-shark, which will fight any and everything that swims, as well as many things of flesh which do not swim, not excepting man himself.

But as the boat drew closer, Mr. Choate, who seemed to have uncanny eyesight plus long experience with subsea life, added greatly to the nervousness of his guests by suddenly exclaiming: "Stand by, men; it's the biggest devil-fish I have ever seen!"

At once everybody who could find one, seized a harpoon; and in his excitement Tom Meeks even picked up an oar, as if to defend himself against attack!

In a few minutes they were close enough to note that the entire bottom of the ocean in the area where the creature had been seen had gone suddenly dark; and in the translucent depths above nearly all of the party discerned a gigantic shadow moving along. It looked for all the world like an immense pancake with bat-like wings. These wings were fluttering queerly, and from the action of the fish Mr. Choate said he was sure it was devouring prey which it had just killed. He now asked Paul if he would like to try a cast. The boy assented eagerly. Bracing his feet in the bottom of the motor-boat he took good aim and let his harpoon fly.

Paul had hardly hoped to hit the devil-fish. And probably he would not have done so, inexperienced as he was with a harpoon, except for the fact that the creature was of unusual size and presented a broad mark. As it chanced, the steel went true. The devil-fish arose to the surface as though hurled upward by a submarine explosion. One of its great battle-like fins broke above the water, sending gallons of spray over the occupants of the boat, and splintering the harpoon staff against the boat's side as if it had been a match stem; then its ten-foot pectoral wing struck the water with a terrific impact, making a noise which could have been heard several miles away.

For a moment the monster seemed bewildered, and that moment cost it dear, for it enabled Bob to throw another harpoon, which stuck deep into its body near the spine. With a mad dash it started off to sea, taking the harpoon lines with it. As the lines sped out of their barrels Mr. Choate grasped one and Mr. Giddings the other, aided respectively by John and Tom, and all hands strained to hold them, but although they went out slowly, they could not be held, until at length Paul and Bob came to the rescue and managed to get the ends around cleats in the boat.

However, this did not stop the devil-fish. It made out to sea with remarkable speed for so clumsy-looking a monster, towing the heavy boat and its inmates after it with the ease of a horse pulling a toy carriage! As it went, all hands bore on the lines, adding to its burden, but for a long time this seemed to have little or no effect.

Every once in a while the devil-fish would literally hurl itself several feet out of the water, and its huge flat body would come down with a crack like the explosion of a gun shell. Perhaps it was imagination, but each time it broke the surface in one of these cavortings it seemed to the boys that the fish was bigger than the last time.

Now and then the creature would sound for deep water, in an effort to shake its captors off, and several times it went down so far that Mr. Choate stood ready with upraised hatchet to cut the lines at the last moment, in the event the bow should show signs of diving under.

All of a sudden the lines slackened, and all hands frantically hauled in slack, as the devil-fish turned and dashed toward the boat. He came up almost under the craft, one great wing actually lifting one side of the heavy launch well out of the water and giving everybody a pretty stiff scare.