Amos Fearless had been in the cabin when the shout of "Shark!" was raised.
Knowing at once the peril of the situation, he had caught a gun from the cabin wall and lost no time in hurrying to the deck.
The shark was still ten feet away from Dave when Mr. Fearless fired.
The first bullet struck the monster in the side, doing little damage.
But the shark turned his head to learn what had hit him and in a twinkle Amos Fearless discharged the weapon a second time.
This time the bullet struck the shark squarely in the eye and entered the marine creature's brain.
Up leaped the shark, clear above the water, to fall with a shock that sounded like the report of a cannon.
The water flew in all directions, drenching all who stood at the rail of the Swallow taking in the appalling situation.
In its death agonies the shark hurled itself against the ship, lifting its tail clear to the rail and wrecking a portion of the woodwork. Then it turned and dove for the small boat. The sailor on board had just time enough to leap out and dive, when the marine creature struck it with all force, smashing the rowboat to atoms.
But that was the last act of the shark. In a minute more it was dead, and floated on the bosom of the ocean close to the ship.