tain Hull and Ned were in the skiff, which was towed by the
motor-boat. Every few minutes the long eel-grass of the shallow bay
choked the propeller of the motor-boat. Then the motor was stopped,
the skiff pulled under the stern of the power-boat, and Ned, with
half his head and shoulders under water, tore the grass from the
wheel. For two miles all eyes scanned the surface of the water
without sight of the quarry; then came a shout from Molly:

"There it is!"

"Take the wheel, Molly; it's your manatee," replied Dick.

And the girl, without a hat and with her loosened hair streaming
down her back, headed the power-boat straight for the creature,
which was distant about the eighth of a mile. Twice the grass choked
the wheel and twice with desperate haste it was cleared by Ned. The
boat had gone many yards beyond the place where Molly had seen the
animal when there was a great swirl in the water beside the craft,
followed by other swirls, which grew less and less as they led in a
straight line up a broad tideway that opened into the upper end of
the bay. A moment later another series of swirls was seen and
followed, after which, for a time, nothing was seen, although four
pairs of eyes were scanning every inch of the stream ahead of the
boat. Then came a cry from the captain, who had been cannily
watching the water behind the craft. The sea-cow had turned around,
and, swimming silently beneath the boat, would have escaped but for
the glimpse the captain got of him as he rose to breathe just
before reaching a bend in the stream, which would have hidden him
from his pursuers. Soon the motor-boat was again on his trail, never
to leave it till the creature was a captive. For the manatee was
tired and had to come to the surface for breath at shorter and
shorter intervals, until the power-boat almost ran over him at every
turn.

"Turn us loose!" shouted Ned, and in a moment the skiff was free and
being sculled by the captain toward the quarry, while Ned stood in
the bow with a noosed rope in his hand. Soon the manatee rose beside
the skiff, so near that Ned laid the noose over the creature's nose.
But it didn't stay there, for a column of water rose in the air, and
when it subsided Ned was swimming two yards from the skiff.

There was a cry from Molly in the motor-boat which no one noticed,
for in half a minute Ned was back in the skiff and the pursuit was
on keener than ever. Every ten seconds the manatee came up to
bre