“A crocodile!”
“A crocodile!”
The word passed from mouth to mouth amid general stupefaction.
“What’s to be done?”
“Capture him!”
But nobody offered to go down. The water was deep.
“We ought to drag him in triumph at our stern,” said Sinang; “he has eaten our fish!”
“I’ve never seen a crocodile alive,” mused Maria Clara.
The helmsman got up, took a rope, lithely climbed the little platform, and in spite of warning cries dived into the weir. The water, troubled an instant, became smooth; the abyss closed mysteriously.
“Heaven!” cried the women, “we are going to have a catastrophe!”