of effort and of action,
his whole mind had been centred on the means of keeping themselves
afloat, and once afloat, of the wherewithal to sustain life as long as
possible. Now the imminence of this hideous peril was forcibly thrust
upon him. He momentarily expected to feel the sudden crunch of one of
these voracious monsters "rising" him from the depths beneath.

He looked at the wet, gliding fin. It was moving _away_ from their
frail floating refuge, _increasing_ the space between. This conveyed
but small comfort. He had known sharks swim round and round a ship for
hours, ever keeping at a respectful distance, ever appearing to be
moving in the contrary direction; yet somehow there they were ever about
the same distance ahead. This one was not going to leave them: no such
luck. Besides, where there was one there were more.

"Mona, dear. I think I will get up on the hatch again, and rest a
little," he said, wishing to spare her the alarm, the consternation, of
his terrible discovery.

She reached out a hand to him with a murmur of welcome. He climbed to
his former position, for he, too, was growing very weak, and he wanted
to rest and think. And as he did so, his eyes fell upon another
glistening fin, seeming to appear on the very spot where he had seen the
first. Great Heaven! there were two of them.

And the result of his thinking was that Roden Musgrave, himself no
stranger to peril, came to the conclusion that if ever living mortal had
found himself in a situation of more unique and ghastly horror, why,
then he had never heard of it. The raft, submerged by their double
weight, might afford a sufficient depth of water for the sharks, growing
bold, to snatch them from it, or possibly to capsize it. On the other
hand, were he to resume his swimming he might be seized at any moment,
and certainly would be sooner or later.

Suddenly he became conscious of a shock, a slight momentary jarring, as
though their precarious support had bumped, had touched a sunken reef;
yet not, for there was a most distinct feeling that the impact was that
of something living. Quickly, but carefully he looked forth, just in
time to catch a glimpse of a long, hideous, ill-defined shape changing
from white to dull ugly green, as it turned over with serpentine writhe
and sank out of sight in the opal depths.

Mona saw it too, and a low cry of horror escaped her. She started up,
shivering with fear, her eyes wild and dilate