ese colours whereof I tell you.
Many branches I broke, putting them in pouches about my waist and
shoulders. At once, I see a waving in the water, over my head; I look up
to see a shark swim slowly round and round, just having seen me, and
making his preparations. I have my knife ready, for often have I met
this gentleman before. I slip behind the coral tree, and wait; but he is
a stupid beast, the shark, and knows not what to do when I come not out.
So up I quickly climb through the branches, with care not to tangle the
rope; he still looking for me at the spot where first he saw me. I gain
the top, and with a few pulls of my good Rento on the rope, I am in the
boat, and Sir Shark is snapping his teeth alone, very hungry, but not
invited to dinner."

"Do you think he was stronger than you?" asked the little boy. "You're
very strong, aren't you? I should think you were as strong as sharks,
and 'most as strong as whales."

The Skipper laughed. "Sir Shark is ten times so strong as any man, let
him be of the best, my friend; but he has not the strength of head, you
understand; that makes the difference. And you, could you do that, too?
Could you keep yourself from fear, when the sea-creatures come about
you, if you should ever be a sailor? What think you?"

The child pondered.

"I think I could!" he said at last.

"I never saw any such things, of course, but I'm not afraid of anything
that I know about, here on shore. There was a snake," he went on,
lowering his voice, "last summer there was a snake that lived in a hole
by the school-house, and he was a poison snake, an adder. One day he
crept out of his hole and came into the school-house, and scared them
all 'most to death. The teacher fainted away, and all the children got
up into a corner on the table, and the snake had the whole floor to
himself. But it looked funny to see them all that way over a little
beast that wasn't more than two foot long; so I thought about it, and
then I went to the wood-box (we were burning brushwood then) and got a
stick with a little fork at the end, and I came up quick behind the
snake, and clapped that down over his neck, so he couldn't turn his head
round, and then I took another stick and killed him. That's only a
little thing, but I wasn't afraid at all, and I thought perhaps it would
show whether I would be good for anything when there were real things
to be afraid of."

The Skipper nodded in his pleasant, understanding way. "