o it till he counts his claws, and sees that they are all fastened
to the rocks; for if a good many of them wasn't fastened he might pull
himself loose, instead of pulling the ship down, and then he'd be a
goner, for he'd be towed away, and like as not put in a museum. But
when he is satisfied that he is moored fast and strong, then he hauls
on his arm, and down comes the ship, no matter how big she is. As the
ship is sinkin' he turns her over, every now and then, keel uppermost,
and gives her a shake, and when the people drop out, he sucks them into
a sort of funnel, which is his mouth.'

"'Does he count fast?' asked one of the men, this being the first
question that had been asked.

"'I've heard,' said the Portuguese, 'that he's a rapid calculator, and
the minute he's got to his millionth claw, and finds it's hooked tight
and fast, he begins to haul down the ship.'"

At this point the marine stopped and glanced around at the little
group. The blacksmith's wife and daughter had put down their work, and
were gazing at him with an air of horrified curiosity. The blacksmith
held his pipe in his hand, and regarded the narrator with the
steadiness and impassiveness of an anvil. The school-master was
listening with the greatest eagerness. He was an enthusiast on Natural
History and Mythology, and had written an article for a weekly paper on
the reconciliation of the beasts of tradition with the fauna of to-day.
Mr. Harberry was not looking at the marine. His eyes were fixed upon
the school-master.

"Mr. Cardly," said he, "did you ever read of an animal like that?"

"I cannot say that I have," was his reply; "but it is certain that
there are many strange creatures, especially in the sea, of which
scientists are comparatively ignorant."

"Such as the sea-serpent," added the marine, quickly, "and a great many
other monsters who are not in the books, but who have a good time at
the bottom of the sea, all the same. Well, to go on with my story, you
must understand that, though this Portuguese spoke broken English,
which I haven't tried to give you, he made himself perfectly plain to
all of us, and I can assure you that when he got through talking there
was a shaky lot of men on that deck.

"The chief officer said he would go below and see how the captain was
getting on, and the crew huddled together in the bow, and began
whispering among themselves, as if they were afraid the Water-devil
would hear them. I turned to wa