here was a tremendous drag again, and as Arthur held on with
both hands his arms quivered.

"Ease him a little--now pull--ease again--now pull!" cried Josh, over
and over, till, giving and taking like this, Arthur had drawn the heavy
lead nearly to the surface of the water, and for a moment he thought the
dark little object going here and there was the eel; but directly after
he saw a great wavy blue-black line some feet down, and that all at once
turned to one that was creamy white, then dark, then light again, as the
conger writhed over and over.

"I've got one too!" cried Dick; and his attention, like that of Will,
was taken from what went on upon the starboard side of the boat, leaving
Arthur to the care of Josh.

"Josh!--please," faltered Arthur, as he clung to the line in an agony of
dread, too much alarmed now even to let go. "Josh--pray--pray cut the
line!"

"No, no, no! you don't mean that," whispered back Josh encouragingly.
"You mean get my little axe, and kill my gentleman as soon as he's
aboard."

"Yes, yes. No, no," whispered Arthur. "Pray, pray, don't bring that
horrible thing into the boat!"

"Not till he's dead, you mean," said Josh, in a low voice, so that Dick
and Will could not hear. "You're not scared of a gashly old conger like
that? You hang on to the line, my lad. You've got plenty of pluck,
only you arn't used to it. Now, you see, ease him a bit."

Arthur involuntarily slackened the line, and the eel ceased its backward
drag and swam up.

"Now, haul again--just a bit," said Josh, standing there with the gaff
in his perfect hand, keen axe in the deformed.

Arthur obeyed and dragged the writhing serpentine creature close to the
surface. Then, quick as thought, Josh had the great snaky fish by the
head with his short sharp gaff-hook, drew it over the gunwale, and
before Arthur could realise what was done the axe had descended with a
dull thud, and Josh dragged the quivering half inert conger over the
side and forward, clear of the line and away from Arthur.

"There!" cried Josh, as he cleverly extricated the hook with the
disgorger; "you come and look at him, Master Arthur. He can't bite now,
and I'm holding him down."

There was so much quiet firmness in the fisherman's words that Arthur
felt himself constrained to go forward and look at the great snaky fish
as it heaved and curved its springy body in the bottom of the boat.

"A reg'lar good fat one," said Josh. "She be a