“Quite right, sir. I did just now about that sparm whale. I don’t believe after all that they get to a hundred foot.”
“Still,” said the doctor, “we know what a spermaceti whale is; but this supposed creature which has been reported of over and over again under the name of the sea-serpent still lives only in the land of doubt—”
“Oh, uncle!” cried Rodd.
“Well, sir, I didn’t see much doubt about that thing.”
“H’m! no,” replied the doctor thoughtfully; “but still you must grant that we did not have a fair examination, and that neither of us, even if we were clever with our pencils, could sketch an exact representation of the natural phenomenon.”
“Nat’ral, sir?” said the skipper gruffly. “Well, to my mind it is a very unnatural sort of thing.”
“I think I could sketch it, uncle, if I were clever with my pencil, which I am not, for I can seem to see it quite plainly now, as it raised its neck out of the water when it swam by.”
“You think you could, my boy; but a great deal of it must have been under water, and your representation would be open to doubt.”
“Humph! What was it like, youngster?” said the skipper gruffly.
“Just the same shape as a swan,” said Rodd, with something like a shudder, “only enormously, big; but instead of having wings and feet it was just as if it had four great paddles.”