r hundred pounds, and as this species destroys great numbers of
foodfish, Mr. Choate made preparations to attack it. Reaching the
proper position, a hand harpoon was thrown by him. It found its mark,
and away went the great fish at so fast a clip that the line fairly
smoked as it shot from the reel barrel. In a few moments it was all
out, and then the motor-boat gave a jump forward and rushed after the
herring-hog. He was towing it, as if it had been a chip!

The engineer now reversed the propeller. This act slowed up the
herring-hog noticeably, but still his prodigious strength carried the
craft forward. It was ten minutes or more before he tired sufficiently
for them to haul him in.

As they were making the big fish fast to the gunwale, a considerable
disturbance was observed on the surface of the water about a quarter of
a mile away. Mr. Choate judged this fuss to be caused either by a
leopard-shark killing its prey, or by some battle royal between two
equally big denizens of the deep.

Mr. Giddings and the boys were all excited at the thought of getting a
harpoon into a huge leopard-shark, which will fight any and everything
that swims, as well as many things of flesh which do not swim, not
excepting man himself.

But as the boat drew closer, Mr. Choate, who seemed to have uncanny
eyesight plus long experience with subsea life, added greatly to the
nervousness of his guests by suddenly exclaiming: "Stand by, men; it's
the biggest devil-fish I have ever seen!"

At once everybody who could find one, seized a harpoon; and in his
excitement Tom Meeks even picked up an oar, as if to defend himself
against attack!

In a few minutes they were close enough to note that the entire bottom
of the ocean in the area where the creature had been seen had gone
suddenly dark; and in the translucent depths above nearly all of the
party discerned a gigantic shadow moving along. It looked for all the
world like an immense pancake with bat-like wings. These wings were
fluttering queerly, and from the action of the fish Mr. Choate said he
was sure it was devouring prey which it had just killed. He now asked
Paul if he would like to try a cast. The boy assented eagerly.
Bracing his feet in the bottom of the motor-boat he took good aim and
let his harpoon fly.

Paul had hardly hoped to hit the devil-fish. And probably he would not
have done so, inexperienced as he was with a harpoon, except for the
fact that the creatu