ake it all back," laughed Lester.

Teddy cut some slices of bread and Bill opened a jar of marmalade, which
they put with the other eatables on the tiny table leaves that they
propped up on both sides of the centerboard.

"Come along now, you aristocrats," called out Teddy, "and profit by the
labor of us poor working men."

The wind was steady, so that Lester could fasten his tiller while Fred
hitched the sail rope round a cleat. Then they crowded into the little
cabin and passed judgment on the dinner. That it was a favorable one was
shown by the magical rapidity with which every crumb disappeared.

"No dyspeptics in this crowd," laughed Fred, when the board had been
swept clean.

"Not so that you could notice it," returned Bill. "A doctor would starve
to death if he had to depend on our patronage."

"My belt is so tight that it hurts," admitted Teddy, loosening it a few
holes.

They lay around lazily for a few minutes, too happy and satisfied to
move. Then Fred and Lester resumed their places, while the other two
drew a bucket of water and washed the dishes and pans. This done, they
slumped down comfortably in the stern, watching the body of the shark
that lunged along clumsily in the wake of the _Ariel_.

"He has an open countenance, hasn't he?" grinned Teddy, as they caught
an occasional glimpse of the huge mouth on the under side of the head.

"And look at those teeth," shivered Bill. "They say that an alligator's
jaw snaps shut with the power of fifteen hundred pounds. But I'll bet
that the alligator has nothing on the shark."

"I guess you're right," agreed Teddy. "Those jaws would cut a man's leg
off as neatly as if it were done with a razor."

"I shouldn't like to have him practise on me," said Bill.

"If that fellow ever had a toothache, it would be some ache," put in
Fred.

"I wouldn't care to be the dentist that had the job of pulling one of
them," laughed Bill. "I'm afraid the patient would be a little peevish."

"I'd get my assistant to pump a ton of chloroform in him first,"
declared Fred. "And even then I'd want to get into a suit of armor
before I operated on him."

"No wonder the sailors hate the brutes," mused Teddy, as he thought of
the poor fellows who had been devoured by the monsters.

"No one of them knows but that he may be the next," added Bill.

"The sailors get even whenever they have the chance," chimed in Lester.
"The minute they see any of the beasts near the ship, they