They had just taken hold of the boat to push it out on the next wave when they heard that cry which had so startled them a few days before. And now it was only a short distance away. Only a strip of sand some thirty feet wide separated them from the woods and they knew that the creature must be very near the edge of it.
"Make it snappy," Bob cried as the wave struck the boat.
The boat slid out without much difficulty and, as soon as the water was up to their knees, they clambered in.
"Look," Jack cried as Bob picked up the oars.
Bob turned his head and saw what had caused Jack's alarm. Coming toward them from the woods was a creature, fierce enough in appearance to frighten the bravest, but whether it was a man or a beast, he could not say. Well over six feet high and with short stocky legs and long arms, reaching nearly to its knees, it stooped forward as it ran. It was clad in some sort of skin but whether its own or another animal's was another thing impossible to say, Its face was hidden all but the nose and eyes by a long and thick black beard.
By the time the creature had reached the water's edge the boat was some thirty feet away and Bob was rowing for all he was worth.
"It's a good thing he didn't come a minute sooner," Jack declared.
But he spoke too soon. Picking up a rock, the size of a large cocoanut, the creature, with a wide swing of his long arm, threw it at them, or rather toward them. The rock described a high arc and, in spite of Bob's efforts to get the boat out of the way, it struck the bottom between them. It was a heavy stone and the boat was a light one and it went right through leaving a hole the size of a plate. Too astonished to move they sat still as the boat rapidly filled and sank beneath them. The water there was not more than four feet deep and when the boat rested on the bottom they were submerged only to their shoulders.
"Well, I'll be jiggered," Jack gasped as he got to his feet.
Bob glanced toward the shore where the creature was dancing wildly about uttering its weird cries and brandishing its long arms. For several minutes they watched it and their hopes rose as they saw that it was reluctant to enter the water.