“My, he’s a terror!” exclaimed Teddy, as the pirate of the seas slowly moved past. “Is he going away do you think?” he asked in alarm, as their intended prey vanished in the direction of the bow.
“No fear,” responded Lester cheerily. “The pickings round here are too good for him to think of going away just yet.”
“Why don’t you wait till he comes around again and then make a throw at him with the harpoon?” asked Bill. “I should think you might hit him.”
“Wouldn’t have a chance on earth,” was the answer. “He’d dodge it like a flash of lightning. Then he’d take alarm and make a quick sneak away from here. After we get him hooked, we can hold him steady and I’ll have a chance to take aim.”
With a mighty heave, Lester threw the hook as far as he could over the stern. The iron chain attached to it hung several inches under the water, but its buoyancy kept the huge chunk of pork floating on the surface.
For several minutes the boys waited, their hearts beating so hard that it almost seemed that they could be heard.
“Do you think he’s really cleared out and left us?” asked Teddy, with disappointment in his tone.
“Don’t worry,” was Lester’s encouraging reply. 124 “He thinks he has too soft a snap here to dream of giving it up.”
Just then Teddy’s question was answered by the shark himself. There was a swish in the water on the other side of the boat, and the boys saw that ominous fin sweep past.
The shark made straight for the hook with its tempting bait. But he sniffed at it a moment and then commenced to swim slowly around it in wide circles.