“I always thought it was a fable,” said Sir John.
“No, sir, I don’t think it is,” said the captain quickly. “As I tell you, I’ve seen a great reptile sort of creature going along through the sea just after the fashion of those water-fowl that are shot in some of the South American rivers.”
“The darters,” said Sir John; “Plotius.”
“Those are the fellows, sir; they swim with nearly the whole of their body under the surface, and look so much like little serpents that people call them snake birds. Well, sir, twice over I’ve seen such a creature—not a bird but a reptile.”
“And they are wonderfully alike in some cases,” said the doctor quietly.
“So I’ve heard, sir, from people who studied such things. Mine was going along six or seven knots an hour, with its snake-like head and neck carried swan-fashion, and raised fifteen or twenty feet out of the water as near as I could judge, for it was quite half-a-mile away. It was flat-headed, and as I brought my spy-glass to bear upon it, I could see that it had very large eyes. I kept it in sight for a good ten minutes, and could not help thinking how swan-like it was in its movements. Then it stretched out its neck, laid it down upon the water, and went out of sight.”
“And you think it was a sea serpent?”
“Something of that kind, gentlemen. Bartlett saw it too, and he was sure it was a great snake.”
“Yes, I feel sure it was,” said the mate quietly.
“Very strange,” said Sir John, who noted how Jack was drinking it all in.