“I see that the magistrate at Port Nolloth has seen the sea-serpent. It was a mile out at sea—raised its head ten feet from the water, and remained in sight for an hour.”
“Is he partickler about the ten feet?” said Abe Pike.
“Yes, he is explicit on that point.”
“Seems to me it’s difficult to judge that height at a distance of a mile,” said Abe; “but, come to think of it, there was a magistrate at Mossel Bay who had the same luck about two years ago. He seed the serpent sporting around for a hour off the coast, and the crittur raised its head somewhere about ten feet. So I guess it’s the same that’s cruising off Port Nolloth.”
“Ever been to Port Nolloth?” asked Long Jim. “Well, I have; and the country’s that lonesome and sand-blown, and gen’rally lost to all sense of what’s fittin’ for human beings to admire, that I’m not surprised the magistrate thought he saw something.”
“Don’t you believe in sea-serpents, Jim?”
“What, me! Well onct I spent a whole hour trying to smash a sea-serpent with rocks, and at the end of that time I found the thing were sea-bamboo—round and smooth, and tapering away to a point like a moving tail. No, sir; give me something I can see and feel.”
“’Cording to all accounts,” said Abe, drily, “if you did feel the crittur, it would be when passing down his throat.”
“Of course you’ve seen one, Abe?” said Si Amos with a slight sneer.
“I have,” said Abe, quietly, as he reached over for the demijohn of Cango.