Desmond, who was fond of the little animal, threw a line, calling to him to catch hold of it, but the monkey, finding itself in the water, was too much alarmed to obey his directions.
“I’ll go after him,” cried Desmond, and was on the point of leaping overboard, when Toby uttered a cry of agony, a black snout was seen to rise for an instant, the white of a shark’s belly glanced in the water, and Toby disappeared beneath the surface.
“The horrid brute!” exclaimed Desmond; “we will pay him off for this if we can.”
The fishermen persevered, and Desmond caught a good-looking fish and Tom another.
“I’ve got one!” cried Billy, pulling away. “Here, Desmond, come and help me haul it in—he must be a big fellow.”
They hauled away at the line, which suddenly came up very rapidly, when a shark’s nose appeared above the water; it was but for a moment, and the next Billy and Desmond were sprawling on the deck with the hook bitten off some way above the shank.
“Bad luck to the beast! It’s the same which ate up poor Toby,” cried Desmond, as he picked himself up.
“I only hope he will not run away with any more of our hooks,” said Tom. “It will be as well to haul them in before he gets hold of them.”
Directly afterwards the line with the shark hook attached was seen to be pulled violently.
“Hurrah! the voracious brute has got hold of the hook intended for him,” cried Tom. “Let’s haul him in before he breaks clear.”