The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-06-04

-er-now what was that princes 1ame'
something like-er --Shceroh or Jloskl-
or-er-well never mind that. | m t so
many princes Il Is difficult to remember
| their names. Wen say his name was
| Jibsh."
yes let's" said Jack, with a grin.
| "Jibsld Is such funny name.
"All right" sail the Major. THE yacht
| belonged 10 Prince Jibski, and she was
| n beauty There was n stateroom and
| steward for everybody on board, and moth
| ing that can contribute to mans com
| fort was left unattended 10. We set sail
| on the sd Of August. and after cruising
about the north coast Of Europe for a
week or two we steered the craft south,
and along about the middle Of Septem-
| Der we reached the Amphibian Islands,
| and anchored. 1t was here / had my first
and last experience with sharks If they
had been plain. ordinary sharks I'd have
had an easy time of II. but when you
get hold of these Amphiblan sharks you
are apt to find yourself in twenty-threa
different kinds Of trouble"
'NIvl' said Mollie "All those?
yes" the Major answered. And
when you remember that there are only
twenty-four different kinds altogether you
can see what a peck of trouble an en-
you into. I thought my last hour had
come when l met with him. You see
when we reached the Amphibian Islands
we naturally thought we'd like 10 20
ashore and pick the cpcoanuts and raisins
and other things that grow there. and
when l got upon dry land again / felt
strongly tempted TO go down upon the
beautiful little beach in the harbor and
take a swim. Prince Jibski advised me
against il, but ! was set upon going He
told me the place was full OF sharks,
but l wasn't afraid because I always
was a remarkably rapid swimmer, and
felt confident of my ability, in case l
saw a shark coming after me, 10 swim
ashore before he could possibly catch
me. providing / had had ten yards start.
So in / went. leaving my gun and cloth
ing on the beach Oh IL was fun The
water was quite warm, and the sandy
bottom Of the bay was delicately soft
and pleasant 10 the feet. i suppose L
must have sported in the waves Tor ten
or fifteen minutes before the trouble
came. l had Just turned a somersaIlt
in the water. when, as my head came TO
the surface. I saw directly In front or me
the unmistakable fin of shark, ana 10
my unspeakable dismay not more than
five feet away AS I told you, If 1t TAD
been ten yards away / should have had
no fear, but five feet meant announcer Story
altogether. My heart fairly jumped IL 10
my mouth. II would have sunk INTO my
boots il | had had them on, but l hadn't |
ca II leaned inward into my mouth as |
1 turned to swim ashore, by Whlch time |
the shark had reduced the distance be- |
tween MS by one foot l feared that all |
was ND with me- and was trying TO think |
of an appropriate set Of last words, when |
Prince Jibsh, noting my peril, fired one
of the yachts cannon In our direction. |
Ordinarily this would have been useless,
for the yachts cannon was never loaded |
with anything but blank charge, but |
I'm this instance 1t was better than II |
n had been loaded with ball and shot,
for not only did the sound Of the explo-
sion attract the attention of the shark |
and cause him to pause for a moment,
but also the wadding from the gun drop
ped directly upon my back, so showing |
that Prince Jibskis aim was not as good |
as II might have been. Had the cannon |
been loaded with ball, or shell, you
can very well understand how It would
have happened that your Uncle Major
would have been killed then and there.
1.-THE sharks pause gave me the start
I needed, and the heat from the burning
wadding right between my shoulders |
caused me to redouble my efforts to get
away from the shark and II, so that l
never swan faster in my life, and was
soon standing upon the shore jeering at
my fearful pursuer who, strange to say,
showed no inclination to stop the chase,
now that I was as I thought, safely out
of his reach. | didn't jeer very long l can
tell you, for in another minute 1 saw why
the shark didn't stop chasing me, and
why Amphiban sharks are worse than
any other kind. That shark had not only
fins like all other sharks to swim with,
but he had likewise three pairs of legs
that he could use on land quite as well
as he could use the fins on water. And
then began the prettiest chase you ever
saw in your life. AS he emerged from
the water. 1 grabbed up my gun and ran.
Round and round the island we tore,
ahead, he thirty or forty yards behind,
until l got to place where / could stop
running and take a hasty shot at him
Then 1 aimed. and fired. My aim was
good, but struck one Of the huge creatures
teeth, broke it off short, and bounded off
TO one side. This made him madden than
ever. and he redoubled his efforts to catch
me. I redoubled mine, until l could get
another shot at him. The second shot
like the first, struck the creature in the
teeth. only this time 1t was more effective.
The bullet hit his jaw lengthwise, and
Knocked every tooth on that side Of his
head down his throat SO IL went. l ran
He pursued. / fired; he lost his teeth,
until finally had knocked out every tooth
he had, and then. of course l wasn't
afraid OF him, and let him come up with
me. With his teeth he could have ground
me to atoms at one bite. Without them
he was AS powerless as bowl OF currant
jelly. and when he opened his huge jaws,
as he supposed, to bite me in two, he was
the most surprised looking fish you ever
saw on land or sea TO discover that the
effect his jaws had upon my safety was
about as great as had they been nothing
but two feather bed mattresses"
You must have been awfully scared,
though" said Jack
NO." said the Major. II laughed In the
poor disappointed things face, but, as
with look OF despair. he rushed back
into the sea again, made the best time ,
l could back 10 the yacht for fear he
might return with assistance"
And didn't you ever see him again.
Maori" asked Molly. ,
Yes. but only from the deck of the