The Ocean Cat's Paw Part 37

"Swim up to where it's lighter," said Rodd. "Not they, sir. They grows a little bait as might be a little bit of meat at the end of their barbel-like fishing-lines, and wave it about in the water for the fish they want to catch to see."

"You said it was all black darkness deep down there," cried Rodd.

"So it is, my lad, and so that the fish may see it those little baits of theirs all glow with light, and shine out in the dark black water. Now, doctor, what do you think of that for a bit of nature?"

"Extraordinary!" cried the doctor. "But who told you that?"

"n.o.body, sir. I have seen them with my own eyes."

"Yes, but what about the men-of-war with their ports lit up?"

"Of course I didn't mean men-of-war, sir. I thought I made you understand I meant fish. Fish about two foot long, with a row of lights down each side like lamps to see their way in the darkness. There, gentlemen, that's no story to tell to the marines, but a fact that I have seen with my own eyes; and if there's things like that deep down in the seas, I don't see anything wonderful in there being what some people calls sea-sarpints that might be as big as a great sparmacetti whale; and if you put some of them beside a cable a hundred foot long there isn't much rope to spare. I knew of a ninety-footer once, though they don't often get so long as that."

CHAPTER TWENTY.

A WARM BLUSH.

Uncle Paul sat very quietly thinking for some time, while the other occupants of the cabin were waiting for him to deliver himself of what seemed to be gathering in his brain. "You see, Captain Chubb," he said at last, "human nature has always been p.r.o.ne to exaggerate. If a boy like my nephew here hooks a fish and loses it, he goes home and tells everybody that it was about five times as big as it really was."

"Oh, uncle!" cried Rodd indignantly. "I am sure I never did!"

"Well, well, perhaps not," said Uncle Paul shortly. "Don't say 'perhaps not,' uncle. That isn't fair. You know I always try to tell the truth."

"Well, well; yes, yes, yes, yes," said Uncle Paul testily. "I am not accusing you, Rodney. I am only alluding to what people who tell stories do."

"Why, of course, uncle, they say what isn't true if they tell stories."

"Will you oblige me, Rodney, by letting me continue what I was about to say?"

"I beg pardon, uncle."

"Yes, Captain Chubb," continued Uncle Paul, "there is that natural disposition born with us, one which requires a great deal of education to eliminate; that disposition to exaggerate in talking about things we have seen and others have not."

"Yes, sir, I know," grunted the skipper. "People will stretch."

"Exactly," said Uncle Paul--"magnify wonders that they have seen."

"Quite right, sir. I did just now about that sparm whale. I don't believe after all that they get to a hundred foot."

"Still," said the doctor, "we know what a spermaceti whale is; but this supposed creature which has been reported of over and over again under the name of the sea-serpent still lives only in the land of doubt--"

"Oh, uncle!" cried Rodd.

"Well, sir, I didn't see much doubt about that thing."

"H'm! no," replied the doctor thoughtfully; "but still you must grant that we did not have a fair examination, and that neither of us, even if we were clever with our pencils, could sketch an exact representation of the natural phenomenon."

"Nat'ral, sir?" said the skipper gruffly. "Well, to my mind it is a very unnatural sort of thing."

"I think I could sketch it, uncle, if I were clever with my pencil, which I am not, for I can seem to see it quite plainly now, as it raised its neck out of the water when it swam by."

"You think you could, my boy; but a great deal of it must have been under water, and your representation would be open to doubt."

"Humph! What was it like, youngster?" said the skipper gruffly.

"Just the same shape as a swan," said Rodd, with something like a shudder, "only enormously, big; but instead of having wings and feet it was just as if it had four great paddles."

"That's right," grunted the skipper; "just like what I see about ten years ago in the Indian seas. I didn't see enough of this one to be able to tell."

"Well," said the doctor gravely, "I for a long time have been of opinion that the reports that reach us from time to time about the sea-serpent must have some truth in them, though they have doubtless been greatly exaggerated."

"Don't hear of many reports now, sir," said Captain Chubb. "We sea-going people have been laughed at too much."

"Yes, I know," said the doctor, "and I have thought over these matters a great deal, and fully believe that we have a great many things to discover, both at sea and on land, quite as wonderful as the so-called sea-serpent. There's plenty of room, and I see no reason to doubt that there are great fish--"

"This warn't a fish," growled the skipper.

"Reptiles, then," grunted Uncle Paul, "which as a rule dwell far down in the depths of ocean, and which only occasionally seek, or are forced up to, the surface."

"Forced up, uncle? What could force up a great thing like that?"

"You ask that, Rodd? Why, what forces a fish up sometimes, to float upside down on the surface?"

"Oh yes, I know," replied Rodd; "something wrong with its swimming bladder."

"Exactly; and I should say such a creature as you saw would in its natural state be always living deep down in the ocean."

"'Cept when he comes up to feed," growled Captain Chubb. "This 'ere one was hard at work in that shoal of fish."

"I don't see that that interferes with my argument, Captain Chubb," said the doctor; "but what I was going on to say was this. There was a time in the history of this earth, when just such creatures as my nephew here described used to be plentiful."

"How long ago?" asked the skipper.

"Ah, that's more than any one of us can say; but I have seen their remains turned to stone, laid bare in a stone quarry--that is to say, their skeletons, which show pretty well what must have been their shape; and if they existed once there is no reason why some of their descendants, though very rarely seen, may not still survive, though I am half afraid that my nephew here must have some half-forgotten lingering memories of one of these creatures that he has seen in some geological work, and upon seeing that fish or reptile let his imagination run riot and finished it off by memory."

Rodd shook his head.

"I saw it plainly enough, uncle."

And the skipper gave his head a sapient nod, while the doctor shook his.

"What were you going to say, Captain Chubb?"

"Only this 'ere, sir. I have 'eard more argufying and quarrelling about sea-sarpints than about almost anything else. I say sarpints, but I mean these things, and I say this. It will never be settled properly till one of 'em is caught--which aren't likely--or one of them is cast ash.o.r.e so as everybody can see fair and square. I believe in 'em, and I've good reason to."

"So do I, uncle," cried Rodd.