er sharply. 'What's the matter with you?
Are you afraid your sea serpent will get us?'

"'He'll get us if we stay out here to-night, sir,' he replied with an
air of conviction. 'I saw the horrible mouth on him, large enough to
bite this ship in half; and it had a beak like a bird, like a bloody
parrot, sir. I saw its horrible body, too, with great black ulcers on
the under side of it where the sharks had been after it. For all the
shark takes a man now and then, he's the seaman's friend, sir, because
he kills off the sea serpents who would take ship and all.'

"'Nonsense, Green!' I said sharply. 'Don't talk any more such
foolishness or I'll have you ironed. You've been drinking so much that
you are seeing things, and I won't have the crew disturbed by your crazy
talk.'

"'You won't think it's talk when those big eyes stare into yours
to-night, Mr. Mitchell, and that body twists around you and squeezes the
life out of you. I don't care whether you iron me or not; I know that
I'm doomed and so is everyone else; but I won't talk about it, sir. The
crew might as well rest easy while they can, for there's no escape if we
have to stay out here to-night.'

"'Well, be sure you keep a tight mouth then,' I said, and left rather
hurriedly. I was in a cold sweat, for his air of conviction, together
with what I had seen, had shaken me pretty badly. I heard the watch
changing up above, and knew there would be men in the forecastle in a
minute. I didn't want to face them right then.

* * * * *

"Mr. Fulton reported everything quiet when I went on deck to relieve
him, and although I surveyed the water through a night glass for as far
as I could see, there was nothing out of the way. The Coast Guard's
lights were shining less than a quarter of a mile away, and things
looked peaceful enough. The wind had gone down with the sun; the sea was
almost glassy, and there was a bright moon.

"After going around the ship, I relieved all of the watch except two men
for lookouts, and sent them below to get a good night's sleep. If I
hadn't done that, some of them might be alive now.

"I paced the deck for an hour trying to quiet my nerves, but really
getting more nervous every minute. Three bells struck and I walked
forward and leaned on the rail to watch the water. I saw a peculiar
swirl as though some large body were coming to the surface from below,
and then I saw--it.

"Dr. Bird, I take a drink once in