"It can't be."
"Why not?"
"It's impossible. Fish don't attain the size of whales in mountain ponds."
There was a silence. After an interval I said:
"Brown, I don't know what to make of that thing."
"Is it coming any nearer?"
"Yes."
"What does it look like now?"
"It looks like a fish. But it can't be. It looks like a tiny, silver minnow. But it can't be. Why, if it resembles a minnow in size at this distance—what can be its actual dimensions?"
"Let me look," he said.