e sort happened. Clif not only was not wounded, but was
chipper as a lark. When he disappeared, he dove under the boat and rose
again on the opposite side. The Spaniard would look in vain in that spot
for his intended victim.

But the Spaniard in the bow discovered Clif's head as it appeared for an
instant above the water. With an imprecation of wrath he called his
companion's attention to the spot. But one of them was armed, it seemed.

The other rushed to that side, but when he looked in the direction
indicated, revolver in hand, Clif had again disappeared.

The American lad was as lively as a cricket, and busy thoughts surged
through his brain.

In the first place, he did not propose being a target for a Spanish
bullet. But, above all, he wanted that boat, and, like the cowboy when
he wants a revolver, wanted it "bad."

"How can I get it?" he thought, as his dive brought him up near the bow
of the boat. Help came from an unexpected source, for a few moments
after, he was driven by a new peril to attempt the only plan that could
accomplish it.

The agency that led to his delivery was a shark. That was not the
every-day business of his shark-ship--that of saving an imperiled life
for those inhabitating those waters are especially hungry and voracious.

But it happened this way: As Clif was quietly keeping himself afloat at
the bow of the boat, confident that in that position he ran little risk
of immediate discovery by his enemies, the plans and schemes revolving
in his mind were brought to a sudden standstill by a sight that filled
him with horror. A sharp triangular fin cutting the water like a knife,
flashed past him.

"Merciful Heaven!" he muttered under his breath. "A shark!"

Death faced him on every side. To be sure he might frighten the shark by
churning the surface of the water, but that very act would betray him to
a no less certain death at the hands of his enemies.

His resolve, a desperate one that caused him to shudder as he formed it,
was reached on the instant. The broad back of his enemy, who sat in the
stern, was within easy reach, and inspired his action.

Quick as a flash Clif grasped the stern of the boat with one hand and
with one mighty effort raised himself high out of the water. Before the
Spaniard could divine what was happening, Clif's free arm was thrown
around the fellow's neck, and he was drawn back into the water behind
him.

An instant after Clif clambered over the stern in