“No, here he comes at us again! Look out!” cried the captain.
There was a crash against the side of the boat, and Ted felt himself being tumbled about.
CHAPTER XI
LOBSTER POTS
Well might the little Curlytop boy have felt afraid—small chap that he was—out on the ocean in an open boat with a big shark bumping its shovel-nose against the craft. But, somehow or other, Ted was not at all afraid. Perhaps he knew the sturdy fishermen were more than a match for the big fish tangled in the net.
“Look out there, my boy!” cried one of the boatmen, as he saw Ted tumble down on the pile of nets as the boat heeled over. “Don’t fall out!”
“No, I won’t,” answered Janet’s brother, as he scrambled to his feet. He wanted to lean over the edge of the boat and see the men catch the shark. But the same fisherman called out:
“Be careful! Don’t lean over the gunwale!”
Ted kept back at that warning. Then he saw Captain Oleson catch up a long, sharp harpoon, fastened to a stout rope. This harpoon the captain threw into the shark. The big fish struggled, he bumped the boat again with his head, he lashed out with his tail, splashing water over every one in the boat, including Ted. But the piece of oilskin on the boy kept him pretty dry.
“That’s the last of him! Haul him in and we’ll let the folks on shore see him!” ordered the captain, as the shark was killed. He was hauled over the side of the boat—no very easy work—but at last the big, ugly fish lay on the bottom. It was a shark about ten feet long, and as Ted looked at the cruel teeth and the long nose, like a shovel sticking out in front, the Curlytop boy was glad he had not fallen into the water while the shark was about.
“Well, we settled him, but I think he has torn our nets and let out a lot of fish we might have had,” said the captain, as he looked at the dead shark in the boat.