For, just ahead of the ship, a school of fish suddenly leaped out of the water, and went flying about fifteen or twenty feet above the water for a hundred feet or more. And they kept coming. Little Jacob could hear the humming of their long fins, but he couldn't see their fins, they went so fast. Little Sol had thought they were wings; and it was as nearly right to call them wings as to call them fins.
"Oo—o, Sol!" cried little Jacob. "Aren't they pretty? And aren't they small? And don't they fly fast?"
"M—m," said little Sol.
"Look at these over there!" cried little Jacob, again. "See! They are flying faster than the ship is going. They are beating us!"
Little Jacob was pointing to some fish that were flying in the same direction that the Industry was sailing. They went ahead of her and dropped into the water.
"H'mph!" said little Sol. "There isn't much wind, anyway. If there was, I'll bet they wouldn't beat us." There really was a good deal of wind.
"But aren't they pretty colors, Sol?" said little Jacob. "They're all colors of blue and silvery. I can't see them very plainly, they go so fast. I wish I could see them plainer."
Captain Solomon was standing near enough to hear what little Jacob said.
"If you'll come inboard, Jacob," said Captain Solomon, "you can see them. We're catching them."
