Little William,--whose curiosity had become excited at the appearance of
the strange fish,--stood looking over the larboard quarter, in hopes of
getting a better view of it.
As yet, he had only obtained a slight glimpse of it: for the larboard
quarter lay towards the south-west, and the sun, just then sinking down
upon the sea, hindered him from having a fair opportunity to scan the
surface in that particular direction.
Shading his eyes with the palm of his hand, he gazed for some time, but
saw nothing,--either upon the surface or under it. Snowball,
notwithstanding that he seemed wholly occupied with the hooks and lines,
took notice of the reconnoissance of the sailor-lad.
"No use you look dat way, lilly Willy," said he. "Doan you see dat de
abbacores are now on de larbord side. Wheneber dey am on de larbord,
you look for long-nose on de starbord. Truss dem take care dey no get
on de same side wit' dat ere fella."
"There, Will'm!" interposed Ben. "Look out that way! there he be,--
right astarn,--don't ye see?"
"I see, I see!" cried William. "O, look, Lalee! What in odd fish it
is! I never saw one like it before."
This was true; for although the young sailer had already traversed many
a long league of the Atlantic Ocean, he had not yet seen a fish of the
same kind; and he might traverse hundreds of long leagues of any of the
oceans without seeing the like again.
It was, in truth, one of the most singular denizens of the great deep
that had thus come under the observation of the _Catamaran's_ crew,--so
peculiar in its appearance that, without the intervention of Ben Brace,
who at that moment called out in name, the boy could have pronounced it
for himself.
It was a fish of some eight or ten feet in length; with a long bony
snout, projecting horizontally forward, at least one third of the length
of its body. This snout was nothing more than a prolongation of the
upper jaw,--perfectly straight, of osseous structure, and tapering
towards the end like the blade of a rapier.
Otherwise the fish was not ill-formed; nor did it present that hideous
aspect characteristic of the more predatory creatures that inhabit the
ocean. For all that, there was a certain shyness combined with great
swiftness in its motion,--a skulking in its attitudes: as Snowball's
speech had already declared,--a truculent, trap-like expression in its
quick watchful eyes, that told of an animal whose whole existence was
passed in the pursuit of prey.
It was not to be wondered at that William should have mistaken the
creature for a shark: for, in addition to the fact of the sun being in
his eyes, there were points of similarity between the fish in question,
and certain species of sharks, requiring a good view and an experienced
observer to tell the difference. William perceived a large crescent
shaped fin rising several inches above the surface of the water,--a tail
lunated like that of the shark,--a hungry eye, and prowling attitude:
the very characteristics of the dreaded tyrant of the deep.
There was one thing in which the creature in question differed
materially from all the individuals of the _squalus_ tribe. Instead of
swimming slowly, it appeared to be one of the swiftest of fishes: for at
each instant as the albacores changed their position from one side of
the raft to the other, the long-snouted creature was seen to shoot to
the same side with a velocity that almost baffled the sight to keep pace
with it.
In fact, the eye could scarcely have traced its course, had it not been
aided by two circumstances altogether strange and peculiar. The first
was that the strange fish, while darting from point to point, caused a
rushing sound in the water; like that produced by heavy rain falling
upon the leaves of a forest. The second peculiarity was, that while
thus progressing its hues became completely changed. Instead of the
dull brown,--its colour when at rest,--its body presented a striated
appearance,--a brindling of bright and dark blue,--sometimes heightened
to a uniform azure!
It was not these peculiarities that had guided little William to the
identification of the species; but the long, tapering snout, straight as
a rapier, that projected in front of its body. This was a token not to
be mistaken,--never to be forgotten by one who had seen it before. And
the young sailor had before seen such a one; not at sea, nor under the
sea, but in a collection of "natural curiosities," that had by chance
been carried through his native town; and whose inspection, perhaps, had
much to do with that impulse that first caused him to "run away to sea."
Under a glass-case he had examined that piece of osseous structure,
described by the showman as the sword of the _sword-fish_. Under the
waves of the tropical Atlantic,--but little less translucent than the
glass,--he had no difficulty in identifying the formidable weapon!