f the water, when
suddenly there arose the cry of, "Shark!" from the lookout on the
poop. There was a great rush for the ship, and the excitement on
board was nearly as great as that in the water. Ned quietly dropped
off his jacket and his shoes and, seizing a short boarding pike,
waited to see what would come of it.

It chanced that his friends, the other boys, were farther out than
the men; having, with the ardor of youth, engaged themselves in
races, regardless of the admonition that had frequently been given
them to keep near the ship; for the terror of these water beasts
was very great.

The men all gained the ship in safety, but the shark, which had
come up from a direction in which it would cut them off, was
clearly likely to arrive before the boys could gain the side. At
first it seemed, indeed, that their fate was sealed; but the shark,
who in many respects resembles a cat with a mouse, and seems to
prefer to trifle with its victim to the last, allowed them to get
close to the ship; although, by rapid swimming, it could easily
have seized them before.

The nearest to it, as it approached the ship, was Tom Tressilis,
who was not so good a swimmer as the others; but he had swum
lustily, and with good heart, though his white face showed how
great the effect of the danger was upon him. He had not spoken a
word, since the shark first made its appearance. As he struck
despairingly to gain the ship, from which the sailors were already
casting him ropes, his eye caught that of Ned, who cried to him
cheerily:

"Keep up your spirits, Tom. I will be with you."

As the huge fish swept along, at a distance of some four yards from
the side of the ship, and was already turning on its back, opening
its huge mouth to seize its victim, Ned dived head foremost from
the ship onto him. So great was the force and impetus with which he
struck the creature, that it was fairly driven sideways from its
course, missing by the nearest shave the leg of Tom Tressilis. Ned
himself was half stunned by the force with which his head had
struck the fish, for a shark is not so soft a creature to jump
against as he had imagined; however, he retained consciousness
enough to grasp at the fin of the shark, to which he held on for
half a minute.

By this time the shark was recovering from the effects of the
sudden blow, and Ned was beginning to be able to reflect. In a
moment he plunged the half pike deep into the creature's stomach.
Again