trail a hook
over the stern in the hope of catching him. Sailors are superstitious,
and they believe that as long as a shark is in sight some one on board
is doomed to die. So they try to kill the hoodoo, by putting the shark
out of business."

"It's a great thing to feel a good deck beneath your feet, when a shark
heaves in sight," remarked Bill. "Even in a boat no bigger than the
_Ariel_, we're reasonably safe. But think of what it must be like
to be on an open raft on the ocean with a crowd of these hungry pirates
swimming all around you."

"And flinging themselves half way across the raft sometimes, trying to
upset it," added Teddy.

"It must be something fearful," agreed Lester. "But there are some
people who are not afraid to meet the shark on its own ground--if one
can call water ground."

"It must take a lot of nerve," declared Teddy. "I don't want to take
their job away from them."

"Of course it takes a lot of nerve," was the answer. "It takes a heap of
skill too. No one could do it, if he couldn't swim just about as well as
the shark himself.

"Dad has told me of what he has seen with his own eyes. A native of some
of the South Sea Islands, when he learns from a fisherman that a shark
is cruising around, will take his knife between his teeth, slip into the
water and swim out to meet him.

"As the shark is looking for him too and can smell him, it isn't long
before they come together. The native knows when the shark is coming by
the fin that shows above the surface, and when the shark gets close the
native dives under.

"Of course you know that the shark has to turn over on his back in order
to bite. The second it takes to do this has saved the life of many a
poor fellow, and it is that that gives the diver his chance.

"The instant the shark turns over, the native plunges his knife into its
stomach. He knows just where to aim, and that one stroke usually does
the business. If not, he tries it again until the shark is killed. But
everything has to be timed to a second. The least little slip, and it's
all up with the native."

"I should think there'd sometimes be a chance of meeting a school of
sharks instead of a single one," commented Bill. "What would the native
do in that case?"

"That does happen sometimes, but it doesn't worry the South Sea Islander
much," explained Lester. "He can usually keep the sharks off by shouting
and splashing. Then, too, if he kills one of them the others are
att