ike a gimlet or a ship augur, and bore
the piece right out."

"Oh! I say, Josh, don't you know! He's making that story up, isn't he,
Will?"

"No," said Will seriously; "it is quite true. Congers have a way of
spinning themselves round like that. Don't you see those swivels on the
line?"

"Yes," said Dick, "I see 'em."

"That's because the congers spin round so. If we did not use swivels
they'd twist the line all in a tangle before you could get them out."

"Why, they're regular sea-serpents," said Dick.

"Well, no," said Josh; "they ain't so big as sea-sarpents, because they
say they're hundreds o' yards long. I never see one, but I've heerd say
so; but congers will bite and no mistake. I had one ketch me by the
boot once, and he bit right through the leather."

All this while they were rowing farther and farther from the shore, on
about as lovely an evening as it was possible to imagine, and the warm
glow of the sunshine prevented Arthur's face from looking ghastly white.

He felt that he must beg of them to turn back directly--that he dared
not go farther; and yet there was a greater fear still to keep him
silent. If he begged of them to row back they would laugh at him for a
coward, and he could not bear this.

"Fishing!" he thought; why, it was like going to attack some horrible
pack of sea-monsters in their rocky fastnesses; and instead of being
dressed in flannels, he felt that he ought to be clothed in complete
armour. Why, if a conger could bite through a line, what would he think
of flannel trousers? And if one got tight hold of his flesh, what would
be the consequences?

Arthur sat there with his mouth dry and his eyes staring as, in
imagination, he saw one of the great slimy creatures twisting itself
round and round, and cutting a great piece out of one of his legs; and
it was all he could do to keep from shuddering with fear.

And all the while there was Dick with a red face, and his hat stuck
right at the back of his head, tugging away at his oar, and smiling at
all Josh said.

"I must try and be as brave as Dick is," Arthur said to himself; and
forcing his teeth firmly together, he began to plan in his own mind what
he would do if Dick caught a conger. He would have his penknife ready
in his hand, and pretend to help pull in the line; and while he was
doing this he would cut it and the monster would swim away.

"Don't you be scared about the congers, Master Taffarthur, sir," said