val, as he
hurried below.

"H'm! pretty clever of Sheldon," sneered a stout, unprepossessing boy, who
seemed to be always scowling. "Knocks the kid overboard, and then goes to
his rescue to make himself solid with the father. Very clever stroke,
that, and just like him!"

"If you say anything like that of Jack Sheldon, Pete Herring," stormed
Dick, who had heard the ill-natured remark, "I'll knock you overboard!"

Herring, who was by no means a favorite in the Academy, quite the reverse,
in fact, had not supposed that Percival had heard his uncalled for and
utterly false assertion, and now hurried away with a snarl, evidently
fearing that Dick would carry out his threat.

The captain, as soon as possible, gave orders to stop the engines, and to
hold the yacht near to the place where the boys had gone down, being ready
to turn and go to their assistance when they should appear again.

All was excitement on board, for, until now, nothing had happened out of
the ordinary, and no one thought of being seasick or of complaining of the
monotony of the voyage.

Jack came to the surface, looked around him, saw young Jesse W. just
coming up and shouting for help while he swam, and then, not far behind,
what had caused him to take the knife with him, the sharp dorsal fin of a
good-sized shark moving rapidly through the water.

CHAPTER II

JACK'S DARING RESCUE

Straight toward the swimming boy swam Jack, rapidly estimating the
distance between them and the distance to be covered by the shark, the
presence of which was not yet known by the younger boy.

He could swim, but he was more or less encumbered by his clothes, wide
bottomed trousers and full shirt, and could not make as good progress as
Jack in any event.

Then, as he was only a little fellow, and probably not accustomed to
swimming very far out of his depth, Jack looked for his strength giving
out at any moment.

"Keep up, J.W., you are doing fine!" he shouted, swimming straight on with
a long, even stroke, which carried him rapidly toward the struggling boy.

Then some one on the yacht, with more anxiety than good judgment, shouted
out so that all could hear him:

"Look out for the shark, look out!"

The instant that the younger boy heard this, he turned his head and cast a
frightened look behind him, seeing the sharp fin just beginning to turn
over in the water.

"Don't look, Jesse W., don't look, swim straight ahead!" cried Jack, who
had come