“That it would be good fun. But what sort of a rig do you use? No use taking an eight-ounce rod and a dry fly or a hand line to those fellows.”
“Shure oi’ve got a foine shar-ark hook up forward. I’ll go git it fer yez,” declared Muldoon, hurrying off.
He was back before long with a hook that looked like one of those used by butchers on which to hang whole carcasses. Attached to this was a length of steel chain with a swivel, and above a stout rope some hundred feet in length. Billy Raynor went below to the cook’s quarters and soon came back with a big chunk of pork which was stuck on the hook.
“How’ll we haul him out if we do get one?” Billy wanted to know, as the bait struck the water with a splash.
“Just give a holler and I’ll git some uv ther byes uv ther crew to lind yez a hand,” declared Muldoon. “Sure 'tis foine spor-rot ye’ll be hivin’ intirely—wow! murtha! Watch yersilf Misther Raynor!”
There had come a sudden vicious rush of one of the sea-monsters at the hook. Turning its hideous jaws upward, the ravenous creature had literally swallowed “hook, line and sinker.” It happened that at that precise moment Billy alone had hold of the rope.
As the shark’s jaws gripped the hook and its sharp point sunk into his flesh, the creature made a mighty rush. It caught Billy unprepared as he stood by the rail, a section of which had been removed while the crew polished the brass work.
Before he realised what was happening a coil of the rope entangled his legs. Like a bullet from a gun, he was whisked off the deck and through the air into the sea, which Jack knew was alive with sharks. It had all happened so suddenly that the last of Muldoon’s alarmed cries had not left his lips before poor Billy was towed away from the ship by the maddened shark, unable to make a move to extricate himself. He was barely able to breathe, in fact, being half submerged.
Paralyzed for an instant, Jack regained his faculties with an effort. Captain Sparhawk, who had seen the whole affair, was the first to take definite action, however. He issued an order for a boat to be lowered at once and then dashed into his cabin for a pistol.
“Hurry, Sparhawk, for Heaven’s sake,” urged Mr. Jukes, who had also been a witness of the accident. “The poor lad will be drowned or eaten alive by the other sharks if we don’t act promptly.”