hat its
throbbing could not be restrained by the grip of the most powerful
hand. Pedro said that the heart would beat till the sun went down,
and it did.

For days Dick hunted all the turtles he saw lying on the water. At
last he got near enough to one to grab him before he dove. But he
got hold too far back, the reptile's head was already turned
downward and his flippers forced him rapidly forward. Dick hung on
as well as he could, which wasn't for long, for the strong rush of
the water and its great pressure as the reptile made for the bottom
quickly compelled the boy to let go. Yet he was under water so long
that when he came to the surface Captain Wilson was in a dingy
sculling like mad to reach him. The captain gave the boy a kindly
warning, which affected him so much that in ten minutes he was off
after another turtle, which he saw asleep. The creature began his
dive just as Dick jumped for him, and the boy got hold of his
tail-end as it was lifted above the water, in time to get a sharp
slap in the face from the heavy hind flipper of the turtle. Dick
sculled for an hour without seeing another turtle, when, as he was
returning to the boat and within a hundred yards of it, one rose
beside the dingy so near that the boy was on its back before it
could go under the surface. He soon had his charger in fair control,
but the science of riding a big loggerhead turtle isn't picked up in
a minute. One of the crew came out in a dingy to help, but Dick
asked him to pick up his boat and oar and take them to the sponger
and said that he would ride back on the turtle. Sometimes his steed
was manageable, and once he got within a few yards of the big boat,
when it broke loose and carried him fifty yards away. Then, as Dick
tried to check the reptile, he pulled its head too far and tipped it
over on its back on top of himself, with his own head so near the
parrot-like jaws of the loggerhead that when they were snapped in
his face they missed his nose by about an inch. The turtle was as
anxious to turn over as the boy, and, by favoring his motions, Dick
soon had the creature right side up, while he again rode
triumphantly on his back. In another hour the halyards were fast to
the turtle and Billy had made good his promise to ride it back to
the boat.

[Illustration: "DICK HUNTED ALL THE TURTLES HE SAW"]

When the water became clear the dingies were sent out with two men
in each, one of whom sculled while the other sat with his