“With your own two eyes?”
“With my own two eyes.”
“Where, may I ask?”
“In Saint-Malo,” Conseil returned unflappably.
“In the harbor?” Ned Land said sarcastically.
“No, in a church,” Conseil replied.
“In a church!” the Canadian exclaimed.
“Yes, Ned my friend. It had a picture that portrayed the devilfish in question.”
“Oh good!” Ned Land exclaimed with a burst of laughter. “Mr. Conseil put one over on me!”
“Actually he’s right,” I said. “I’ve heard about that picture. But the subject it portrays is taken from a legend, and you know how to rate legends in matters of natural history! Besides, when it’s an issue of monsters, the human imagination always tends to run wild. People not only claimed these devilfish could drag ships under, but a certain Olaus Magnus tells of a cephalopod a mile long that looked more like an island than an animal. There’s also the story of how the Bishop of Trondheim set up an altar one day on an immense rock. After he finished saying mass, this rock started moving and went back into the sea. The rock was a devilfish.”