It might be supposed that the shark would have rushed instantaneously
upon its antagonist, regardless of aught save making a meal of him. But
no, the zygaena, notwithstanding its great voracity, like the rest of
its tribe, is endowed with certain instincts of caution. The sea-tiger,
as well as that of the land, can tell instinctively whether the object
of its attack is likely to become an easy prey, or turn out a dangerous
adversary.
Some such--shall we call it an idea?--seemed to enter the unshapely
skull of the hammer-head,--suggested no doubt by the bold attitude which
Snowball had assumed. In all likelihood, had the negro been making
away, instead of swimming towards it, and showing signs of a desire to
escape, its onset would have been made on the instant.
As it was, the shark saw itself _vis-a-vis_ to an adversary nearly as
large as itself and quite as courageous; and it is possible also that
its pilot-fish,--a brace of which had advanced close to Snowball's
snout, and after submitting his dusky carcass to a brief examination
returned to their master,--it is just possible that these emissaries had
reported to their patron, that the game he was in pursuit of must be
approached with caution.
At all events something had been communicated that produced a sudden
change in the tactics of the zygaena. Instead of rushing recklessly on
to the attack,--or even keeping up the swimming pace by which it had
hitherto been making its approach,--on arriving within some half-score
fathoms of Snowball's face, it gradually slackened speed, until its
brown, fan-like fins, gently oscillating along its sides seemed no
longer to propel its body through the water.
Moreover, on drawing nearer, it swerved slightly from its course,--as if
with the design either of attacking its adversary in the rear, or
passing him altogether!
Strange enough, the two parasites appeared to direct this movement: for
both kept swimming alongside the zygaena, one of them opposite each of
its huge eyeballs.
The negro seemed slightly perplexed by this unexpected manoeuvre. He
had anticipated an instantaneous attack, and had made every preparation
to receive and repel it. He had even taken the knife from his teeth,
and was holding it tightly clutched in his right hand, ready to deal his
deadly blow.
The shyness of the shark produced a disappointment.
Something besides: for it now occurred to Snowball that the cunning
zygaena was trying to pass him, with the design of making a _razzia_
towards the helpless party in his rear.
The moment this suspicion arose to him he turned short in the water, and
struck out in a direction that would enable him to head the shark, and,
if possible, intercept it.
Whether the creature intended to pursue his original plan of attacking
the sailor and his charge, or whether he was manoeuvring to _turn_ the
Coromantee, it mattered not. In either case Snowball was pursuing the
correct strategy. He knew that if his supple antagonist could once get
round to his rear, his chances of safety for himself or the others would
be sadly diminished. Should the zygaena once get past him and continue
on towards the sailor, swift swimmer as Snowball was, he could have no
chance of overtaking a fish.
At this crisis a thought occurred to him which promised to avert the
calamity he most dreaded,--that is, the shark getting past him, and
continuing on to the others. The thought found expression in speech.
"Ho! Massa Brace!" he cried, once more taking the steel from between
his teeth. "Swim roun' to de right. Keep a-gwine in de circle. For de
Lord sake, keep ahind me, or you loss fo' sartin!"
The sailor scarcely needed the counsel. He saw the danger before
Snowball had spoken, and had already commenced the movement which the
Coromantee was requesting him to make.
Once more the tableau changed. The _dramatis persona_ in their relative
positions first formed an isosceles triangle, then a scalene, afterwards
a right line. Now all were moving in a circle, or rather in three
circles concentric to one another; the sailor, with his charge,
revolving round the centre, Snowball in mid radius, while the shark,
flanked by his satellites, went gliding along the outer circumference,
his lurid eyes glaring continually inward, as if watching for an
opportunity to break the line so carefully guarded by the Coromantee!
For full five minutes was this "ring" performance kept up, without any
great alteration occurring in the relative positions of the parties.
But it was a game in which the outside player had all the advantage;
for, although the zygaena had by far the greater distance to traverse,
what was but sport to it was fatigue and the danger of drowning to its
adversaries.
Had its skull been of a different formation, and filled with a better
set of brains, it would have endeavoured to keep up that game, without
in the least degree changing the mode of playing it. In due time, its
chief antagonist, Snowball, must have cried quarter or gone to the
bottom; and far sooner must have sunk the weighted swimmer in his wake.
But sharks, like other creatures both aquatic and terrestrial, have
their moments of impatience and anger; and the zygaena, yielding to
these passions, common to both piscine and human nature, at length
determined to break through the rules of the game, and bring the play to
an abrupt termination.
In obedience to this impulse, it suddenly swerved from its circular
course, and, heading towards the spot where Ben Brace, with Lilly Lalee
clinging to his shoulder, was performing his shorter revolutions, it
made a reckless and determined rush for the centre,--equally regardless
of the admonition of its brace of monitors and the cold steel of the
Coromantee, gleaming clear under the water through which it would have
to make its way. So near had it to pass to the negro's flat nose that
its glutinous skin would be almost in contact with his prominent lips,
and with his outstretched hand he need have no difficulty in striking
his slippery antagonist.
Had Snowball been anticipating this change of tactics, he could not have
acted more adroitly, or with greater promptness. As the zygaena was
gliding onward, and just as its rough _pectoral_ passed within an inch
of his nose, he suddenly returned the knife between his teeth, and,
simultaneously using both hands and limbs, he sprang upward in the
waiter, and, with a vigorous effort, launched himself on its back!
In the next instant he was seen,--or might have been seen,--with one
hand, the left, firmly grasping the bony protuberance of the zygaena's
left eye, his muscular fingers deeply imbedded in the socket, while his
right, clutching the long knife, was inflicting a series of stabs
against the side of his adversary, now flashing high in the air, now
gleaming under water, going up and down with all the measured regularity
of a trip-hammer.
When it pleased the Coromantee to dismount from his slippery saddle, the
zygaena floated by his side,--a carcass stained with its own blood, that
for fathoms around encrimsoned the azure waters of the ocean!