Then how those fishermen did roar with laughter, and stamp on the deck with their heavy boots, and slap Breeze on the back in token of their appreciation of his talent and its successful application! From that time forward he was obliged to exercise it frequently for the benefit of his shipmates; but it was long before Nimbus thoroughly understood it, or could be persuaded that the mysterious voices that seemed to come from all parts of the schooner were not produced by some invisible being.
The readiness with which this first halibut had taken the hook determined Captain Coffin to make at least one set of the trawls at that point. It was to be a “set under sail.” That is, instead of coming to an anchor, the schooner, under easy sail, would drop one dory with its trawl, then another, and so on until all were out, when it would turn back, pick them up in the same order, and stand off and on near the buoys until it was time to haul. As each trawl was set at right angles to the course of the schooner, and there were six of them placed at intervals of half a mile, very nearly three square miles of bottom were thus covered.
The rest of the crew had been paired off, and had chosen their dories before Breeze and Nimbus came aboard, so these two naturally became dorymates. This time Nimbus was the green hand, and Breeze his instructor, in the art of trawl-setting. Everything went smoothly with them until they had partially hauled their trawl, when such a fearful thing happened to them that to this day Breeze cannot think of it without a shudder.
Nimbus was in the forward part of the dory hauling in the line, while Breeze stood just behind him, coiling it away. As they were thus engaged, the trawl seemed to catch in some heavy body, and, in spite of his strength, Nimbus was obliged to call upon Breeze for aid to move it.
MATEO, WITH A HOWL OF DISMAY, HAD DARTED FORWARD AND VANISHED IN THE FORECASTLE; WHILE NIMBUS, WITH A YELL OF AFFRIGHT, HAD ROLLED AFT.
“Mus’ hab um whale on de hook,” he panted, as he tugged at the straining line.
Directly the strain was slackened, so suddenly that they nearly tumbled over backward. The water surrounding the boat became black as ink, and from it darted something like a huge snake, that twined itself about the black man’s body. He gave a cry of horror, and tried to tear it loose, but at his first movement two more of the snake-like arms shot out from the inky water and also seized upon him. These twined about his legs and tripped him, so that he fell in the bottom of the boat, very nearly upsetting it. As it was, it was drawn so far over to one side by the weight of the creature attacking them that there was imminent danger of its filling, and leaving them to struggle powerlessly in the water.
All this had happened so suddenly that Nimbus was flat on his back before Breeze at all realized what was taking place. A glance over the side showed him two of the cruelest-looking eyes he had ever seen. They were quite round, very large, and projected from the base of the long writhing arms, or tentacles, that had seized upon Nimbus. Snatching up an oar, and using it as a sort of harpoon, Breeze aimed a furious blow at one of the protruding eyes. Whether he struck it or not he could not tell, for before he could recover the oar it was torn from his grasp and drawn under the water. At the same instant another of the monster’s tentacles was thrust upward and fastened upon him, pinning his left arm to his body.
In the first shock of his terror, Nimbus rolled, screaming and helpless, among the slippery fish in the bottom of the dory. Suddenly a cry from Breeze of “Help, Nimbus! Help me! I’m being dragged overboard!” seemed to restore his courage. He struggled to his knees, seized upon one of the snake-like things that held him, and, with a mighty wrench, literally tore it in two. This gave him some freedom of motion, and he managed to reach over to where Breeze was clinging to a gunwale, and drew the boy’s sheath-knife from his belt.