d come within reach than the tables were turned.
With the speed of light the creature swung over, threw two of its arms
under the boat; one clasped the gunwale and others fixed themselves on
the boy's bare arms, while two waved freely as though waiting a chance
to twine around his neck and strangle him.

Colin yelled with fright. As the cold, clammy suckers crinkled
themselves into his flesh, the skin all over his body seemed to creep in
disgust. He had been bending over as he hauled up the rope and the
squid's tentacles around his arms held him poised half out of the boat,
his head not more than a foot and a half from the surface of the water,
looking straight into the hypnotic, black, unwinking eyes of the
sea-monster.

The instinct of fright arose. Using all his strength, he raised his
right arm and grasped the tentacle that had been wound around his left
arm. To his surprise he found that a moderate amount of force only was
needed to pull the grasp of the tentacle free, and he released himself
from the creature almost without difficulty. Nor, except for a slightly
reddened spot on his arms, was there any outward evidence of the
encounter.

Vincente reached down for the cephalopod, allowing it to wrap some of
the tentacles about him, then pried its grasp from the boat with the
handle of the gaff. He made no attempt to free himself from the squid,
but as he stood still for a minute or two, the creature voluntarily
released its hold, falling to the bottom of the boat.

"Zey haven't any strengt' at all out of ze water," the boatman said,
"but while swimming zey have a good deal. See, ze whole body of zat
squid isn't more zan two feet long, an' yet if he'd got a hold of you in
ze water, specially with ze bigger suckers on ze t'ick part of ze arms,
you might have had some trouble. Zose big fellows wit' bodies twenty
feet long an' arms t'irty feet, mus' be one horrible t'ing to meet on a
dark night."

"But would they attack you?"

"Never, I t'ink," said the boatman. "Ze biggest of zem hasn't a beak
large enough to take in a herring."

"Well," Colin said, "I suppose that really wasn't as exciting as it
seemed, but I tell you, for a while, I felt as if I was having all the
thrill I wanted."

"You ought to try ze octopus, now," said the boatman with a chuckle;
"zat is, if you've had enough of ze squids. It's early yet an' we might
go after some of zose octopuses zat hunt crabs."

"I'm ready," said Colin. "They won