The Republican., 1894-11-15

l
light swimming suit, except that he
had on his jacket over the thin upper
| garment
The weather was very warm, for it
was the season of the Australian sum-
mer
Swarms of buzzing flies darllened
| the air about the numerous large ant
| hills between the coast and the noun
tains. and the shellfsh on the rocks
hooked as if they had been baked by
the heat.
Presently, when close to a long,
wide reef, Jack sprang out upon it to
procure for his companion some of the
beautiful shells called by the Aus
! tralian natives Irego, which he knew
were to be found about fifty yards
ahead. where the reef was inaccessible
/ for the canoe on account of its being
/ sllirted by low, pointed rocks.
After the Kanal,a was gone, as Dave
was taking off his jacket, too warm for
that sultry day, his midshipman's dag
ger, in its sheath, slipping from the
! breast pocket of the garment, fell into
| the sea. The lad, who was an excel
lent swimmer. resolved to try to re-
cover the knife himself, instead of
troubling Jack to come away back and
get it for him. Having hastily stuffed
his jacket in the bow, he looked about
into the clear water, which at this
place was about eighteen feet deep,
and he could see the red sheath. as it
slowly sank. In the canoe there was
a coil of rope about twenty feet long
with which, by fastening it to a stone,
he would sometimes anchor his canoe.
As precaution, he secured one end of
this line about his breast and tied the
other to the middle thwart of the
canoe. Should he be taken with cramp
or otherwise be hindered from coming
up, after going down, Jack, to whom
he now called ont, making known his
intention. could haul him to the sur
face by means of the rope. Without
waiting for the Kanaka's answer, he
dived but, keeping his eyes open as he
went under he was not more than two
fathOms down when he was startled at
seeing strange monster emerge from
the shadow Of projecting shelf of the
reef. Swiftly it swan diagonally up
ward, working a large pair of hand
shaped flippers or fore-fns as if they
were paddles. The big head. the eyes,
the fiat nose. the distended nostrils
and even the mouth bore some resem-
Dlance to those of savage human be-
ing. The animal, fully nine feet long.
was of dark color, except about its un-
der part, which was streaked with
white, and its body, thick in the mid
die, tapercd to slender proportions to-
ward the crescent-shaped tail
The boy hurriedly rose to the sur
face. When he reached it, he watched
the singular creature that had alarmed
him, and which was now nearly twelve
feet away, making for clump Of
water-soaked grass that had evidently
drifted from some point far up the
coast. This grass was close to that
part of the line which hung from the
canoe with one end of it tied, as al
ready stated. about Dawes breast
The slack coils between the canoe
and the boy lay twisted into numer-
GUS turns and bights, little below
was very near these, when it darted
forward with open mouth, showing
two rows of canine teeth. and caught
the clump of grass between its jaws.
"Kanaka Jack" who while nearly
hundred and sixty feet away had, as
he gathered the shells, been watching
for Dawes temperance. was now fast
posite to which he had come up.
Hurry. Unfasten line" he said to
Darrell. Him dugong-too close to
line-'f fraid get caught"'
Dave vainly tried to unite the line
about his breast The knot having
hardened from being wet, was a diff
cult one, and as he awllwardly tugged
at it there in the water, he anxiously
watched the creature that Jack had
called a dugong.
lie had often heard of but had never
before seen this strange mammal,
which is of the family of the manatus,
or sea-cow, which can go on shore as
well as in the water, and will eat hav,
grass and herbs
He now swan for the reef, from
which, while keeping himself afoat,
he had drifted about fifteen feet. The
dugong, in a nearly perpendicular po-
sition, with its head and it's white
3treaked breast above the water, but
facing a little away from the lad,
whom, evidently, it had not vet seen,
was quietly chewing the grass. while
gently working its big, hand-shaped
tlippers up and down.
Dave. turning his gaze from it to-
ward the Karaka as he swan, noticed
that the youth, still ra pidly approach
ing, had dropped the shells he had col
lected and drawn small sheath knife
from belt about his waist.
What are you going to do with the
knife, Jack?" he shouted. 81 don't
think the fish will attack me-"
"No-no- me want to cut line" was
the answer. Hi, hi! Me thought so!
You speak too lOud and frighten. him!"
IN fact, on hearing barrels shout.
the monster gave a wild sheer and
dived, as if alarmed, its body becom-
ing entangled among the many sub
merged bights of the slack line. Two
of these bights caught about its form,
close to its foretins. when up it again
came, darting swiftly along, alternate
ly rolling, leaping and plunging, in
mad effort to disengage itself from the