two of them to
the task, because he would not have one alone upon the island, not
knowing but that there might be danger, even though it were bright day;
and a most happy ruling it proved; for, a little past the middle of the
afternoon, we heard them shouting at the other end of the valley, and,
not knowing but that they were in need of assistance, we ran with all
haste to discover the reason of their calling, passing along the
right-hand side of the blackened and sodden vale. Upon reaching the
further beach, we saw a most incredible sight; for the two men were
running towards us through the thick masses of the weed, while, no more
than four or five fathoms behind, they were pursued by an enormous crab.
Now I had thought the crab we had tried to capture before coming to the
island, a prodigy unsurpassed; but this creature was more than treble its
size, seeming as though a prodigious table were a-chase of them, and
moreover, spite of its monstrous bulk, it made better way over the weed
than I should have conceived to be possible--running almost sideways, and
with one enormous claw raised near a dozen feet into the air.

Now whether, omitting accidents, the men would have made good their
escape to the firmer ground of the valley, where they could have attained
to a greater speed, I do not know; but suddenly one of them tripped over
a loop of the weed, and the next instant lay helpless upon his face. He
had been dead the following moment, but for the pluck of his companion,
who faced round manfully upon the monster, and ran at it with his
twenty-foot spear. It seemed to me that the spear took it about a foot
below the overhanging armor of the great back shell, and I could see
that it penetrated some distance into the creature, the man having, by
the aid of Providence, stricken it in a vulnerable part. Upon receiving
this thrust, the mighty crab ceased at once its pursuit, and clipped at
the haft of the spear with its great mandible, snapping the weapon more
easily than I had done the same thing to a straw. By the time we had
raced up to the men, the one who had stumbled was again upon his feet,
and turning to assist his comrade; but the bo'sun snatched his spear from
him, and leapt forward himself; for the crab was making now at the other
man. Now the bo'sun did not attempt to thrust the spear into the monster;
but instead he made two swift blows at the great protruding eyes, and in
a moment the creature had curled itself