The Perils of the Shoal
Before I could take any steps to free myself from the loathsome embraces of the octopus, another tentacle fastened itself round my leg, while others writhed menacingly in an attempt to seize their prey. The creature's body seemed but about the size of a sheep's head, while each of the arms or tentacles was less than a yard in length.
Retaining its hold on the rocks with a pair of its arms, the hideous brute began to increase its grasp on my leg, while at the union of the slimy tentacles I could distinguish a pair of small, protruding eyes and a formidable beak. That beak was slowly approaching my naked flesh, to rend it asunder.
Being without shoes, for I had kicked them off when I began swimming, I was unable to stamp on the creature with my yet free foot, though any attempt to do so might have led to my undoing, as I had all my work cut out to prevent myself from being capsized. Once prone on those slippery rocks, my fate was sealed.
Then I bethought me of my knife, which I had thrust into my belt. Gripping it dagger-wise, I braced myself to overcome a sickening sensation of fear, and plunged it to the hilt betwixt the eyes of the hideous creature.
'Twas only to be likened to cutting a leather bag filled with jelly--once the steel had ripped through the outer skin there seemed no resistance to the blade; yet, though a quantity of watery blood, mingled with a blackish froth, came from the wound, the octopus apparently lost none of its vitality. Its rage, if I may so term it, seemed to increase, for, quitting its hold on the rocks, it fastened upon me with all its tentacles. I felt its snake-like embrace encircle my legs, while two of its members seized my left arm. Though I struck madly at its head to ward off the terrible, beak-like mouth, my efforts seemed unavailing. The pain of the hundreds of suckers was intense, and I felt my legs giving way under the loathsome contraction of the creature's tentacles.
Suddenly the pressure seemed to relax, and redoubling my efforts, I severed three of the arms with as many sweeps of my knife. Thus I freed the upper part of my body; after that it was a comparatively easy matter to cut off the other tentacles, though the remaining parts still clung to my legs like a hundred leeches.
Shudderingly I made my way towards a portion of the reef that now lay exposed, keeping a wary eye on the seaweed lest another octopus should be lurking in the rocky crevices.
Having completely emerged from the water, I cut off the adhering tentacles with my knife, for they would not become detached by other means. Wherever the suckers had touched my flesh a small red wound remained, so that my legs were one mass of livid spots, showing vividly against the white skin, my prolonged stay in the water having well-nigh stopped the flow of my blood.
I rubbed my limbs vigorously, and began to consider how I should reach the shore, for the current had now ceased to ebb, as I could tell by the absence of ripples over the submerged portion of the shoal.