ved master in imminent
danger, as he believed, of being seized and devoured before their eyes,
raised his bow, and hastily fitting an arrow to the string, drew the
shaft to its very head and let it fly into the reptile's throat, where
it stuck fast, inflicting so much pain that the beast at once flung
itself back into the water, roaring and choking, coughing up blood, and
throwing itself into the most indescribable contortions.

Then a very extraordinary thing happened. No sooner did the wounded
plesiosaurus begin to vomit blood than the other two, which had
meanwhile been swimming excitedly to and fro, hurled themselves upon it
in what seemed to be a perfect frenzy of fury, and a most ferocious and
sanguinary battle ensued, the swirling, flying, foam-flecked water being
almost instantly deeply dyed with blood, while the air fairly vibrated
with the terrifying sounds emitted by the combatants. The cutter,
meanwhile, relieved of the heavy drag upon her of the carcass of the
dead plesiosaurus, began to slide rapidly away from the vicinity of the
fighting monsters, and would soon have left them far behind. But this
did not at all suit Harry, who, having undertaken to destroy the
ferocious reptiles, was by no means inclined to leave his task less than
half done. He therefore put the cutter about and, to the mingled
astonishment and dismay of his companions, headed her back toward the
scene of the combat, steering in such a manner as to pass just to
leeward of the spot where the violent commotion in the water showed that
the battle was still raging with unabated fury. Then, as the boat
ranged up alongside, with her foresheet hauled to windward, the great
bodies of the monsters could be seen rushing and plunging and leaping
hither and thither, whereupon the whole party of sportsmen opened a
vigorous and well-directed fire of arrows and javelins upon them, Harry
chiming in with his deadly rifle whenever a good chance for a shot
offered itself. The result of this determined attack was that the young
leader was lucky enough to get in a splendid shot close behind the left
shoulder of one of the struggling brutes, which must have reached its
heart, for upon receiving the bullet the great reptile flung itself more
than half out of the water, uttering a dreadful cry as it did so, and
then, falling back, turned slowly over, and with one last writhing,
convulsive shudder, sank slowly to the bottom of the lake. Meanwhile
the rem