"'He proved it by a minute examination of the microscopical shells found among the ribs of the thermosaurus. These shells contained little creatures that live only in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. They were the food of the thermosaurus.'
"'It was rather slender rations for a thing like that, wasn't it? Did he ever swallow bigger food—er—men?'
"'Oh yes. Tons of fossil bones from prehistoric men are also found in the interior of the thermosaurus.'
"'Then,' said I, 'you, at least, had better go back to Captain McPeek's—'
"'Please turn around; don't be so foolish. I didn't say there was a live thermosaurus in the water, did I?'
"'Isn't there?'
"'Why, no!'
"My relief was genuine, but I thought of the rifle and looked suspiciously out to sea.
"'What's the Winchester for?' I asked.
"'Listen, and I will explain. Papa has found out—how, I do not exactly understand—that there is in the waters of the Gulf Stream the body of a thermosaurus. The creature must have been alive within a year or so. The impenetrable scale-armor that covers its body has, as far as papa knows, prevented its disintegration. We know that it is there still, or was there within a few months. Papa has reports and sworn depositions from steamer captains and seamen from a dozen different vessels, all corroborating one another in essential details. These stories, of course, get into the newspapers—sea-serpent stories—but papa knows that they confirm his theory that the huge body of this reptile is swinging along somewhere in the Gulf Stream.'