The Argosy — page 322: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

302 Dodging a Shark. Taw pnoaee. out to the reef. I was enjoying the bath amazingly, floundering about under the lee of the rocks, over which the green seas broke at intervals, half smothering me in a natural shower-bath. The water on the part of the reef on which I stood was scarcely two feet deep, except where the swell came round, and then I was almost taken off my legs, such was the precarious nature of my footing. I was just waiting for another roller to burst over me, and the steve- dore was floating on his back in the centre of the basin, when to my ‘intense horror I saw a large shark making towards him. I cried out loudly “A shark! a shark !” The stevedore, hearing this terrifying cry, turned to see from whence the danger came. It would have been useless for him to attempt to reach the boat, so I shouted to him to stnke out for the shore. Fora se- cond or two he seemed fear-stnicken, and made no effort to reach the land. Suddenly, he either realized the danger of his position, or he decided upon some plan of escape, for he struck out boldly for the shore. Those few seconds of indecision on the part of Peter had enabled the monster to get into fearful proximity to him, and for some minutes the race was an exciting one. I held my breath and looked on half paralyzed with terror, while foot by foot the shark drew nearer to him ; expecting, every instant to see its silvery stomach glancing in the sunlight, and the form of the stevedore dragged under water. Just as the shark was within a few fathoms of him, the stevedore turned sharp round and dived. As his foot disappeared beneath the surface, the monster dashed at it, and there was great commotion in the water. For some seconds the brute lashed his tail, his struggles were terrific, and I thought it was all over with poor Peter. But in another moment or two, to my inexpressible joy, I saw his head emerge from the water, some distance from the shark, and a cry of thankfulness escaped me as I saw him reach the shore in safety. Meanwhile the shark had released himself from the shoal; for I now saw that Peter, who knew the place well, had availed himself of his knowledge, and dexterously avoiding it, had put the shark aground upon a spit of sand that ran out from the shore. No sooner did the brute clear the shoal than he made for the reef. I had been so occupied with the stevedore’s danger that I had not thought of myself. When I did, the great black fin was sailing down rapidly towardsme. To enable the reader to realize my situation more fully, I may say that the boat was floating gaily in the middle of the inlet, and was thus of no service, either to Peter or me. Thus, while, on the one hand, my return was effectually cut off by the shark, I could not hope for any assistance from the shore. It is true, the danger was not so imminent as in the case of the stevedore, but my position was, nevertheless, one of extreme peril, and one from which I could see no means of escape. comicloooks (CO) mn _