"Are those the funny things that wave their arms around and throw out ink when they get mad?" asked Harry.
"Yes."
"Are they very big?"
"They come in all sizes. There's even such a thing as a giant squid. For a long time people laughed at the idea that there was any such monster. They thought he was a myth, like the sea-serpent.
"But one day two fishermen were plying their trade when two great arms rose out of the sea and clasped their boat and tried to drag it under.
"Luckily, they had a big knife, and they hacked away at the arms till they cut them off.
"The cuttlefish—that's another name for it—made the sea about them as black as tar. But it did not try again.
"They took the arms ashore, and sold them to a man named Dr. Harvey. Everybody had been making fun of Dr. Harvey because he said there was such a thing as the giant squid.
"The Doctor hated strong drink, and so the clerks at the store of Job Brothers here in St. John's were very much surprised when Dr. Harvey rushed in and shouted: 'I want a barrel of rum!'
"Then he told them what he wanted it for—he wanted to send the giant squid to the Royal Society in London. The parts of the arms cut off were nineteen feet long.