The captain humoured him, and they walked aft to where the awning cast its grateful shade.
"Here, father, hadn't we better have the steam up and get on?"
"I hardly think so, Jack. What do you say, captain; will the calm last?"
"Only till sundown, sir; then I think we shall have a nice soft breeze again."
"Then I say no, Jack," said Sir John. "We're quite hot enough, and it does not seem fair to the men to send them down making roaring fires when there is so little need."
"You'd be getting brown on both sides at once, Jack," said the doctor.
"Look yonder; fish rising. What do you say to having a try?"
"Yes," said Jack eagerly, "let's get up the lines. Hi, Mr Bartlett, come on."
The mate had taken the captain's place, and was superintending the lowering of the studding-sails.
"Yes, all right, Bartlett," cried the captain, "I'll see to that;" and giving the lad a friendly nod, he went forward, the mate coming aft.
"Look! Fish!" cried Jack. "What had we better do, Mr Bartlett?"
"Yes; send out some light lines floating in the current," said the doctor.
"No, I don't think we should do much that way. More likely to get something from close in under the bows with the grains," replied the mate thoughtfully. "But what I should do would be to lower a boat and gently scull her toward one of those shoals; we might do something then."
"That's the way," cried Jack. "Here, hi! Lenny, we want you."
The big black-bearded fellow looked inquiringly at the captain, who nodded, and the man came aft, while Jack and the doctor went below, the former in a hurry, the latter with a good deal of deliberation. The mate and the man then proceeded to lower the light gig and cast off the falls, leaving her hanging by the painter.
"Strong tackle and bright artificial baits, Jack, my lad. The water's wonderfully clear."
These were selected from the ample store, and carried up to the boat, into which a basket, a bucket, and a big stone bottle covered with a felt jacket, and full of fresh water, were lowered.
"Won't you come, father?" said Jack suddenly.
"Well--er--no," said Sir John; "there is hardly room for another in that boat."
"Then we'll have a larger," cried Jack in a decisive tone, speaking as his father had never heard him speak before.
"No, no," cried Sir John; "don't alter your plans. But look out there."
He pointed away from the side of the yacht, and Jack shaded his eyes, for the sun flashed from the surface.
"Fish of some kind," said the lad eagerly. "Look, Mr Bartlett; what are they--eels?"
"Snakes--sea-snakes," said the mate quietly; and they stood gazing at a little cluster of eight or ten beautiful mottled creatures lying close to the surface, almost motionless, except that one now and then changed the S-like figure into which it lay by bending and waving its long sinuous body into some other graceful curve, progressing by a slight wavy motion of its tail.
"Proof positive, Jack, that there are sea-snakes," said Sir John.
"We shall have to look out," said the doctor, laughing. "Perhaps these are the babies, and papa and mamma not far off."
"Hallo! what have you got there?" said the captain, coming up. "Snakes, eh? Plenty of them to be found."
"And big ones?" asked Jack eagerly.
"I don't say that, my lad," replied the captain. "There's a pretty good big one there though."
"What, that?" cried Jack. "Three or four feet long."
"Nearer eight when he is out of the water."
"Would they take a bait?"
"Doubtful. But I would not try. Those things can bite, and, as I said, I've known cases out in the Indian Ocean where men have died from their bites. They're best dealt with from a distance. Why don't you shoot one for a curiosity? You could keep it in spirits."
"Ah, why not?" said the doctor; and he ran below, to return directly with a double gun and some cartridges, a couple of which he inserted at the breech.
Sir John looked at his friend inquiringly.
"There you are," said the doctor, handing the gun to Jack. "I'd rest the barrels on the rails as we're rolling a little. Then take a good aim as we're rising, not as we're going down, and fire as if you wanted the shot to go under its head."
Jack hesitated, and shrank a little, but mastering his feeling of trepidation, he took the gun, and rested the barrels on the rail.
"Why am I to fire under if I want to hit the snake?" he said.
"Because you will be in motion, and if you do not, your charge of shot will be carried above the reptile for one thing; another is to allow for the refraction, which makes the snake seem higher in the water than it is."
"But that one has its back right out."
"Yes: quick! a quick aim, and then draw the trigger."
Jack had never fired a gun in his life, and he shrank from doing so now, but every one was watching him; and as the barrels still lay on the rail, he glanced along between them as he had along the captain's telescope that morning, and pulled the trigger, but no explosion followed.
"Quick!" cried the doctor. "Do you call that quick?"
"It won't go off," said Jack, with a touch of irritation in his voice.
"Of course it won't," cried the doctor. "Why, you had not cocked it."
Jack had had no experience of guns, but he knew what ought to be done, and quickly drawing back the hammers, he took aim just beneath the largest of the snakes, and fired.
He had not placed the stock close to his shoulder, so he received a sharp blow, and the report sounded deafening, the smoke was blinding, and it was some moments before he was able to see what luck had attended his shot.
Better than he expected. The large snake was writhing and twining about in the water, and splashing it with blows from its tail, but the others had disappeared, and the mate had dropped down into the boat, and taken up the long-handled gaff-hook.
"Mind what you're about, Bartlett," cried the captain. "Don't lift it into the boat while it's so lively."
"I'll take care," was the reply, and after giving the gig a thrust which sent it near enough, the mate watched his opportunity, and lowering the hook made a snatch with it, catching the snake somewhere about the middle.
The touch seemed to fill the reptile full of animation, and quick as thought it twined itself in a knot about the hook, bit at it, and began lashing at the strong ash pole with its tail.