of that, what was his surprise to see him
suddenly leap on its back and dig the fingers of one hand into its left
eye. If the hammer-head had been torpid before, it now made ample
amends by its sudden activity; off it darted along the surface, Nub
holding up its head to prevent it from diving, while with his right hand
he struck his knife with all his might sometimes before him and
sometimes behind him, inflicting deep wounds in its back and sides. It
seemed surprising that the zygaena could endure them, but its wonderful
vitality is well-known--the terrific gashes which Nub inflicted in no
way impeding its rapid progress. At first it seemed to be coming
towards the mate and Alice; and though it would not have been able to
bite them, it might have inflicted a blow which would have stunned them
both. Nub, however, managed by hauling at its head to turn it, and it
swept by, forming large circles round and round the spot where they
floated. Its speed, however, from its loss of blood, began somewhat to
diminish, and Nub could evidently guide it with greater ease than at
first.

Seeing this, the mate shouted to him, "Steer the brute, if you can, to
yonder chest, and bring it up to us as soon as possible."

"Ay, ay, massa," answered Nub; "I finish de brute off soon. It not got
much more go in him. Cheer up, Missie Alice; I no tink dis a steady
horse for you, or I ask you to have a ride on it." [See Note 1.]

This remark did more than anything else to restore Alice's courage, for
she knew that the black felt perfectly certain of gaining the victory.
Nub, who had already deprived the monster of sight, continued to dig his
knife into its head, guiding it towards the chest, which he thus rapidly
reached. He then, turning half round while he held up its head, stuck
his knife as far back as he could reach behind him, persevering in his
efforts till all movement in its tail had ceased.

"Dere, you go and feed your ugly cousins!" he exclaimed, giving it a
last dig,--when, leaping from its back, he threw himself on the top of
the chest; while the shark, its life almost extinct, rolled over on its
back with its head downwards.

Taking off a lanyard attached to the chest, Nub secured it to the handle
at one end, and after resting for a few seconds, again threw himself
into the water and struck out for the mate and Alice.

"There, my dear child, I told you so; the brave black has killed the
shark, and he will soon have th