"Oh," Nils said. That was one more bonus he wouldn't get. He looked around, hoping to sight another lion.
The sound of a muffled report came in over Nil's earphones. Then Petrone swore in Italian. Nils always had to laugh because Petrone would never swear in English.
And then the white shape came looming through the murkiness right at Nils's pistol. He could even see the animal's eye, whereas usually you were lucky if you could distinguish the head. He raised his gun and fired and had the satisfaction of seeing the lion flounder and thrash and finally subside, floating aimlessly in the air.
"Got it," Nils said, grinning. That was another bonus, and each time Nils got a bonus, one of his kids had enough money to get through college. He threw the harpoon and snagged the beast just behind it's right foreflipper. Pulling in the harpoon cable, he made certain that the weapon was firmly embedded in the lion's flesh.
"Pull away," he said.
"We think you'd better come up, too," they said on the raft.
"Okay," Nils said. There was only one more child to earn an education for, and then he was going to quit.