arm, which was around him, but I never
flinched, though there ought to be some stronger word than scared to
fully express my feelings, when I felt that big mouth against my
arm. The great manatee mother didn't seem to mind me a bit, as she
swam around us two or three times, but I squirmed a good deal when
that tremendous tail, which was moving so slowly, came opposite me,
and I wondered if it was going to mash me as flat as a sheet of
paper, or only knock me over the tops of the mangroves. But that
scare was nothing to the next one. After Ma Manatee had gone, Baby
and I had a quiet hour or so and I was getting pretty tired and
beginning to worry a lot about you, when something happened to set
me to worrying about myself. This is a big, deep river, and there
was enough going on to amuse me, dolphins, turtles and tarpon coming
up to blow as they passed and small fish jumping out of the water
most of the time.

"Sometimes a splash and the scattering of little fish when a big
one got after them startled me for a minute, but I got over minding
it much, when a big, big splash came and there was a long struggle
in the river near me. Perhaps I wouldn't have minded it so much, but
Baby got crazy again and I couldn't soothe him. Next minute I didn't
blame him, for I was 'most crazy myself. Out from all the ruction in
the water, there came, swimming slowly toward us, a great leopard
shark. I knew him from the spots which covered his body, for he was
so near that I could have counted them. He was certainly over ten
feet long and looked as if he had plenty of room in his stomach for
both the baby and me. I remembered that Mr. Streeter had told me
that no shark in this country had ever attacked a human being, so I
braced up a little and pulled that splashing manatee baby out toward
the shark, and I splashed some myself and acted as if I wanted to
eat that Tiger of the Sea. Would you believe it? He was scared silly
and, though I was in a blue funk myself, I laughed so that you might
have heard me if you had been listening. For behind that shark was a
wake such as a big motor boat would have made. After the shark had
gone, I had another worrying fit. You had been gone a long time, and
the thought kept coming to me that you might have met that shark.
Neddy boy, next time you go off alone on a long swim, I'm going with
you. Now what shall we do with the baby? The tide will turn before
long and I s'pose we could get him to camp. He'd go