it
of fun? but when a man's in 'arnest he ought to be believed."

"Of course," said Tom; "but I say, mate, you never see the sea-serpent,
did you?"

The man did not answer for a few moments, but stood gazing straight out
to sea before saying quietly:

"I don't know. A man sees some curious things out at sea in the course
of thirty years; but he gets precious cautious about telling what he's
seen after being laughed at, and chaffed when he's been only telling the
simple truth. Why, I remember, once when I was out with one captain, we
saw what we thought was the sea-serpent or something of the kind, and
observations were taken, it was all entered in the log, and sent to the
papers afterwards; and the skipper got laughed nearly out of his skin
for a romancer. He was a queen's captain--man-o'-war it was, and all
was as regular as could be; officers and men saw it all, but they were
so roasted afterwards that, when anything of the kind's seen now, they
say nothing about it."

"But do you really mean to say you believe that there are monsters in
the ocean that we have no regular account of in books?"

He turned to me, and pointed out to sea.

"Isn't there room there for thousands of great things, my lad; such as
we've never seen or heard of?" he said.

I nodded.

"Why, do you know that in some parts out here the water's over four
miles deep? They've measured it, my lad, and they know."

"Say, Mas'r Harry, that's more than your two mile," cried Tom.

"Ay, and I dessay there's parts where it's more than twice as deep, and
when you come to think of the thousands of miles you can sail without
nearing land, I say there's room for thousands of things such as nobody
has ever seen."

"That's very true," I said.

"Why, I remember, down at home in Norfolk, when I was a boy, there was a
big pool that people never fished, because they said there was no fish
in it, and so it had been longer than anybody could recollect; and at
last there was a plan made to drain a bit of bog close by, and a great
dyke was cut. This set the farmer the pool belonged to thinking that if
he cut a ditch to the big dyke, he could empty the old pool, and if he
did he would get 'bout three acres of good dry ground instead of a black
peaty pool; so he set a lot o' chaps at work one dry summer when they
weren't busy, and we boys went to see it done. Now, you may believe me
or you mayn't, my lads."

"Oh, we'll believe you; won't we, Mas'r Harr