"Ah, a sucker fish!" remarked the inventor. "A large specimen, too. Don't be afraid Washington, it can't hurt you."
"He looks like he could," said the colored man. "Look at dem teef!"
Indeed the creature's mouth was a horrible sight, as it opened and shut.
"I'll show you how to get rid of him," said the professor.
He turned on the electric lights in the cabin, flooding the room with a bright glow. The big fish darted off, and, when the lights were turned out again, the terrible eyes did not reappear, much to their satisfaction.
"The lights scared it away," remarked the inventor. "But you mustn't get frightened so easily, Washington. You'll see stranger sights than that before you're through with this voyage."
"Oh I wasn't 'fraid," spoke up Washington. "I were jest 'stonished, dat's all."
"What did you get down on your knees for?" asked Mark with a grin.
"I might hab been lookin' for my collar button, for all you knows," replied Washington, with an air of great dignity, and went back to the engine room.
For several days after this the Porpoise continued on her way south. Now and then appearing on the surface to renew the supply of fresh air, and again skimming along under the surface, or deep down, the strange craft kept on. It grew much warmer, and even when some distance below the surface the heat could be felt in an uncomfortable manner.