hat impaired for the moment.

"What's to be done now?" inquired Peterkin ruefully.

"Make a fire, lad, and dry ourselves," replied Jack.

"And here is material ready to our hand," said I, picking up a dried
branch of a tree, as we hurried up to the woods.

In about an hour after this mishap our clothes were again dried. While
they were hanging up before the fire, we walked down to the beach, and
soon observed that these curious spouts took place immediately after the
fall of a huge wave, never before it; and, moreover, that the spouts did
not take place excepting when the billow was an extremely large one. From
this we concluded that there must be a subterraneous channel in the rock
into which the water was driven by the larger waves, and finding no way
of escape except through these small holes, was thus forced up violently
through them. At any rate, we could not conceive any other reason for
these strange water-spouts, and as this seemed a very simple and probable
one, we forthwith adopted it.

"I say, Ralph, what's that in the water? is it a shark?" said Jack, just
as we were about to quit the place.

I immediately ran to the overhanging ledge of rock, from which he was
looking down into the sea, and bent over it. There I saw a very faint
pale object of a greenish colour, which seemed to move slightly while I
looked at it.

"It's like a fish of some sort," said I.

"Hallo, Peterkin!" cried Jack, "fetch your spear; here's work for it."

But when we tried to reach the object, the spear proved to be too short.

"There, now," said Peterkin with a sneer, "you were always telling me it
was too long."

Jack now drove the spear forcibly towards the object, and let go his
hold; but, although it seemed to be well aimed, he must have missed, for
the handle soon rose again; and when the spear was drawn up, there was
the pale green object in exactly the same spot, slowly moving its tail.

"Very odd," said Jack.

But although it was undoubtedly very odd, and, although Jack and all of
us plunged the spear at it repeatedly, we could neither hit it nor drive
it away, so we were compelled to continue our journey without discovering
what it was. I was very much perplexed at this strange appearance in the
water, and could not get it out of my mind for a long time afterwards.
However, I quieted myself by resolving that I would pay a visit to it
again at some more convenient season.

CHAPTER X.

Make discove