o, sir," said Tom; "I only dropped something over to see if the big
fish there would take it."

"Oh, I see!" he exclaimed. "Sharks! Yes, there are plenty of them, my
lads. No bathing here. You should get the cook to give you a lump of
bad pork, and hang that over by the string: that would fetch them."

Tom took the hint, and running to the cook told him what the captain
said, returning at the end of a minute to where I was still watching the
two monsters, the captain having gone.

"I'll tie this tight on, Mas'r Harry," cried Tom, suiting the action to
the word. "I say, don't I wish we had a hook!"

The piece of meat was soon firmly secured, and twisting one end of the
string round his hand, Tom took his old place beside me, chuckling and
laughing, and began to lower down his bait.

"I say, Mas'r Harry, I wish it was a bar o' soap. If one of 'em
swallowed it I wonder what he'd think of the taste."

By this time Tom had his bait close to the water, and directly after he
let it drop on the surface, where it made a little disturbance and then
floated.

Almost at the same moment it appeared as if, without the slightest
movement, one of the sharks was growing bigger and closer. It seemed to
fascinate us, so cautiously did it rise nearer and nearer, till all of a
sudden it rolled right over on its side, showing the creamy white of its
under parts; there was a gleam of teeth, a swirl in the water, and the
greasy lump of salt pork disappeared.

As it did so I saw Tom's arm give a sudden jerk, and as he uttered a
yell I realised what was wrong, flinging my arms round him, and threw
myself inboard, so that I dragged him with me, and we fell together upon
the deck.

"Oh, my eye!" gasped Tom as we sat up on the deck; and he held up his
hand, beginning to unwind the broken string from it, and showing how
deeply it had cut into it before it gave way.

"What an escape, Tom!" I cried, and as I spoke I felt that I must be
looking very white.

"I should have gone overboard if you hadn't laid hold o' me, Mas'r
Harry," he said, looking blankly in my face. "How strong that string
was, and how it cut!"

"How stupid of you to tie it round your hand like that!" I said.

"Well, I s'pose it was, Mas'r Harry," he said ruefully; "but one didn't
think of it then."

"Well, let's have a look at the sharks," I said, as the horror of what
might have happened passed off.

"No, thankye, Mas'r Harry," said Tom sulkily. "I've h