CHAPTER VI
DEFEATED BY A SPOTTED MORAY
Colin's brilliant success at Santa Catalina, signalized by his receiptof the tuna button, had so increased Major Dare's pride in him that whenthe boy renewed his request that he be allowed to enter the Bureau ofFisheries, his appeal received attention. The inspiration that he hadgained from the whole-hearted enthusiasm of the professor was evident inall that the boy said, and his father was surprised to find how much thelad really had learned about the work of the Government during hisexperiences in the Behring Sea and on the Columbia River.
"It doesn't appeal to me particularly," his father said quietly, whenthe boy closed a somewhat impassioned petition, "but we are each builtupon a different pattern. To me, fish are of interest as a food and forsport. I couldn't be satisfied to take them up as a lifework. There's nomoney in it; of course, you can see that."
"There isn't in any government work, is there?"
"No," was the reply, "big fortunes are always made in individual ways.But when you're starting out in life, it is much more important to beable to do the work you like than it is to seek only for money. Theprincipal thing I'm afraid of is that you will find it tiresome andmonotonous after a while. It's very hard work with a good deal of manuallabor involved, and there is nothing particularly attractive in a bushelof fish-eggs!"
"But it's only on the start that you have to do the steady grind," Colinobjected, "and one has to do that in every line of work. I know youwould very much rather I took to farming or lumbering, but I think afish is a much more interesting thing to work with than a hill of cornor a jack-pine."
"But don't you think you would find it tame after a while?"
Colin leaned forward eagerly.
"I know I wouldn't," he said confidently. "I've heard you say, Father,that everything was interesting if you only went into it deeply enough.Now, there's more chance for real original work with fish than in anyother line I've ever heard of. The professor gave me an idea of all thedifferent problems the Bureau was trying to solve, and each of them wasmore interesting than the last. You've got to be a doctor to study fishdiseases, an engineer to devise ways and means for stream conditions, achemist to work on poisons in the water that comes from factories, andall sorts of other things beside. It looks to me as though it had thebest of all the professions boiled down into one!"
"That's an exaggerated statement, of course," was the reply; "but youseem in earnest. No," he continued, as Colin prepared to burst forthagain, "you've said enough."
The boy waited anxiously, for he felt that the answer would decide hiscareer.
"If your heart is set on the Fisheries," his father rejoinedthoughtfully, after a few minutes' reflection, "I presume it would beunwise to stop you. But remember what I have told you before--I'mperfectly willing to fit you for any profession in life you want to takeup, but only for one. If you begin on anything you have got to gothrough with it. I'll have no quitting. As you know, I would rather youhad taken up lumbering, but I don't want to force you into anything, andperhaps your brother Roderick may like the woods. You're sure, however,as to what you want?"
"I want fishes!" said Colin firmly.
"I've been looking up the question a little since you wrote to me fromValdez," Major Dare continued, "because I saw that your old desires hadincreased instead of dying out. You know, Colin, I want to help you asmuch as I can. You realize that there's no school of fisheries, like theforestry schools, don't you?"
"Yes, Father."
"And that if you go into the Bureau the only way you can learn is by theactual work, hard work and dirty work, too, it will be often."
"Yes, sir," the boy answered, "I was told that, too."
"I wrote to the Commissioner," said Major Dare, "and explained the wholeposition to him. He answered my letter in a most friendly way, andshowed me just what I've been telling you this morning. He pointed outfrankly that the Bureau had so much to do and so little moneyappropriated to do it on, that such a thing as a 'soft job' wasn't knownin the service."
"I'm not looking for that," said Colin, a trifle indignantly.
"I don't think you are, my boy, but you want to be sure before you takethe plunge," was the warning answer. "You oughtn't to wait until you arein college before you make up your mind."
Colin looked across the table at his father and met his glance squarely.
"There's nothing else that I want to do," he said firmly, "and I do wantthat. Of course, I'll do whatever you say, but I feel that the Bureau ofFisheries is where I'm bound to land in the end."
"No going back?"
"No going back, Father!"
Major Dare reached out his hand, and the boy grasped it warmly.
"Very well, my boy, that's a compact. I'm not sure just what will needto be done to enter you in the Bureau, but whatever is necessary, we'lldo. I think you have decided on a life that will be hard and sometimesthankless, but at least it is a man's job, and will have its owncompensations. You couldn't possibly do anything more useful. We'll gohome by way of Washington, visit the Fisheries Bureau together, and seewhat arrangements we can make."
"That's bully, Father," said Colin earnestly; "thank you ever so much."
"Make good, my boy," his father answered, "that's all you have to do.You'll only have yourself to thank, for it will be all your own fight."
It was fortunate for Colin that this was not decided until the daybefore they left Santa Catalina, for he became so impatient that theintervening hours before they started for the East seemed like weeks tothe boy. His enthusiasm was so genuine that, although his mother wasalready very tired of the interminable 'angling' conversation in SantaCatalina, she succeeded nobly in evincing an intense interest in thewhole fish tribe.
When they arrived in Washington, which chanced to be in the afternoon,Colin wanted to start off for the Bureau of Fisheries immediately, evenbefore he went to the hotel, and he seemed to feel quite aggrieved whenthe visit was put off. Major Dare had some important business to lookafter and he purposed to leave the question of the boy's arrangementsopen for a couple of days, but he saw there would be no peace for anyone until Colin's fate was settled, and at the boy's importunity he'phoned to the Bureau and made an appointment with the Commissioner forthe following day.
Next morning, accordingly, the two started off together for theFisheries Building, an antiquated structure standing in the magnificentpark behind the National Museum and but a short distance from theSmithsonian Institution. They entered on the ground-floor, seeing to theleft a number of hatching troughs, to the right models of nets andfishing-vessels, at the far end a small aquarium, while in the centerwas a tank in which were the two fur seals that the boy had heard aboutin the Pribilof Islands.
He pulled his father's arm.
"Oh, Father!" he cried; "there are the fur seals. Come over and seethem!"
But his father shook his head smilingly.
"They are not personal friends of mine, as they seem to be of yours," hesaid, "and I have no time to waste. Besides, we have an engagement withthe Commissioner. You can come down and chat with your sealacquaintances after our talk."
The Commissioner greeted them cordially, and without waste of words.
"So this is the boy!" he said, after the customary greetings. "He'llneed to grow a bit, eh?"
"So did both of us once," said Major Dare, looking at his own heightand the Commissioner's burly frame. "We haven't done so badly."
"That's true. Well, boy, tell me just what you want to do."
"Everything that there is to do in the Bureau, Mr. Glades," answeredColin promptly.
The Commissioner rubbed his hand over his chin, with a short laugh.
"That's a big order," he said. "Willing to work?"
"Yes, sir," the boy replied; "I don't mind work."
"This is the place for it. There's just two kinds of people in theworld," the Commissioner went on; "those who do just what they learn todo and nothing else, and those who do the work because
they want to."
"Yes, sir," again responded the boy, wondering what was coming.
"The first lot keep things running and that's all. The others are thereal men. The last are the men we've got in the Bureau and everybody hasto be up to the standard. So, there you are."
"I don't know whether I can come up to the standard, but I'm one ofthose that want to!" the boy said emphatically, rightly judging thatthe Commissioner was not the sort of man who liked long speeches.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE U. S. FISHERIES BUREAU, ATWASHINGTON, D. C.
_Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries._]
HAULING THE LARGEST SHAD SEINE IN THE WORLD.
Spawn-taking operations on the Potomac River. Trying to save fromextinction one of America's finest-flavored food fishes.
_Courtesy of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries._]
"Good! Going to college?"
The boy looked at his father.
"I had thought of sending him to Brown," he said, "since he got thisFisheries idea. One of my friends told me that it was an excellentuniversity for biology."
"Do it!" said the Commissioner. "Send him to college in the winter, lethim work with us in the vacation. That'll give him four summers'training with us. When he comes out of college he ought to be worthsomething to the Bureau. But don't start and then give up."
"Colin won't do that," his father said, then added pointedly, "I'll seeto it that he doesn't."
"Very well," said the Commissioner, "that's settled." He rang a bell,and a messenger appeared at the door. "Ask Dr. Crafts to step here aminute if he is disengaged. Dr. Crafts," he continued, turning to MajorDare, "is perhaps one of the most valuable men we have on the Bureau.Oh, by the way, boy, when do you want to start?"
"Right away, sir, if possible," Colin replied.
"Is that novelty or enthusiasm?"
"Enthusiasm, I think," Major Dare answered, smiling.
In a moment the door opened again, and the Deputy Commissioner came in.
"Dr. Crafts," the Commissioner said, after introductions had been made,"here's an enthusiastic youngster who wants the Commissionership! Notright away, perhaps," he added as the newcomer smiled at the boy, "butperhaps in a couple of decades or so. And he thinks he ought to startthis minute. Have we anything for him to do?"
"I don't know of anything especially," said the Deputy Commissionerthoughtfully; "it's so late in the season."
"Let him have something to work off his animal spirits," theCommissioner said; "it's a pity to let so much energy go to waste."
"Very well," the other said genially; "we'll see what we can do. Willyou join us, Major Dare?"
"I think not," the boy's father answered; "I will leave him entirely inyour hands, and he can tell me all about it afterwards. I want just aword or two more, Commissioner," he added, "and then I must be going."
"What's your name, lad?" asked his new chief, as they walked along thehall.
"Colin Dare, sir," the boy responded.
"Which is it to be," the official asked with a pleasant smile, "'Colin'or 'Dare'?"
The boy looked up at him and felt instantly the thorough kindliness andfine worth of his companion, and answered promptly:
"'Colin,' sir, if you don't mind. That is, at least, to you."
"All right, Colin," was the reply; "I suppose we must see what we canfind for you to do. Tell me," he continued, as they entered his office,"how you came to think of entering the Fisheries Bureau?"
Thus adjured, Colin told briefly how his father had tried to interesthim first in lumbering and then in engineering, but that neither hadappealed to him. Then he told of his whaling adventures and of the fewdays he had spent on the Pribilof Islands, recounting the Japanese raidwith great gusto. The Deputy Commissioner, who had heard nothing but theofficial account of the fracas was intensely interested and hequestioned Colin closely, noting carefully the boy's clear understandingof the seal question.
"You have a head for facts, Colin," he said approvingly, when the wholeadventure had been told, "because you really have noted the importantpoints in that sealing business, and it is more complicated than itlooks. Go on, now, and tell me how you came down from Valdez."
So Colin took up the story again, described his meeting with thelieutenant of the revenue cutter and the kindness he had received fromhim. The Deputy Commissioner smiled, for the officer in question was aclose personal friend. Then Colin told of the salmon tagging and of hisvisit to the hatchery, not forgetting the capture of the sea-serpent.
"It seems to me," Dr. Crafts said jokingly, "that you have become apublic personage in connection with Fisheries even before you come intothe Bureau. To figure in a Japanese seal raid and to capture asea-serpent in the same summer is enough fame for anybody!"
Colin laughed and answered:
"After that it would seem a little like boasting, but----" he reachedinto his pocket and pulled out the tuna button, safely stowed away in atightly-closed box.
The Deputy Commissioner whistled softly in surprise.
"And did you win this, too?" he asked. "You went to Santa Catalina,then?"
"Yes, Dr. Crafts," the boy replied, and related his experiences whilethere. He told the story well, and the Deputy Commissioner--who was amaster in that art--nodded appreciatively.
"So far as I can judge," he said, "the Bureau is the place for you. ButI don't know where to fit you in. It is getting on towards the middle ofAugust, and not only is the work all arranged for the summer, but mostof it is done."
"I just want to be at work," pleaded the boy, "for the experience, notfor what I can get out of it, of course."
"That sort of arrangement is impossible," answered the DeputyCommissioner; "there is plenty of volunteer work done in the Bureau, butsuch work is always along the line of special investigation, and it isgiven to those who are equipped for research, usually universityprofessors. The assistants are always paid, and you see I couldn't verywell create a precedent on your account!"
"No, Dr. Crafts," answered Colin, quite disheartened; "I suppose not."
The Deputy Commissioner tapped on the desk thoughtfully.
"It happens," he said, "that a friend of mine who is attached to theAmerican Museum of Natural History--that's the New York museum, youknow--sails for Bermuda next Saturday to get some material. He wants totake a helper along, and the Museum provides him with funds for engaginghelp on the island."
"Yes, sir," the boy said, wondering what was coming.
"Now," the Fisheries official continued, "if he has got to have help itmight be a good experience for you to go with him, but you may have topay your way across. What salary you receive over there would just aboutmeet the expenses of the trip, so that you would break even. Would youlike to do it?"
"I'd rather start in on the Bureau," Colin answered, but he was wiseenough not to refuse an opportunity, and continued, "but if you think itwould be a good thing for me to do, why, of course, I'm ready."
"I think it would be an excellent chance," the Deputy Commissionersaid, "because we do very little work around the Bahamas, and none atall in Bermuda, so that it would give you an idea of the fish-life therewhich, otherwise, you might never get. And if you tried any Bureau worknow, you would be handicapped by not having started with the other boys,and you'd be so far behind that you might feel badly about it. So theBermuda opportunity seems to me the best chance."
"What is the purpose of the trip, sir?" asked the boy.
"To prepare a model for the Museum which will give people an idea of thesea-gardens as they really are. Part of the model will be of preparedspecimens, I believe, and some will be copies made of spun glass. Iunderstand that Mr. Collier wants to study especially the sea anemones,the corals, the sponges, and the sea-fans; also, to note the habits ofthe fish peculiar to the coral reefs, and show them in the model asthough they were swimming about in their natural habitat."
"That would be awfully interesting!" said Colin.
"It will teach you a lot," rejoined th
e Deputy Commissioner, "and youcan't ever know too much about sea-life. The real backboned fishes,with which the Bureau principally deals, are only a small part of thepopulation of the ocean."
"Shall I go and call on this gentleman, then, Dr. Crafts?" the boyasked.
"You had better drop in and see me this afternoon," was the reply. "I'lltelephone to Mr. Collier and ask him to take lunch with me and we'lltalk it over then. Suppose you come in about half-past two o'clock, andif he takes kindly to the scheme I'll have him meet you here. If he hasother plans, why, there's no harm done, and we'll try and think ofsomething else."
Thanking his new-found friend heartily, but not quite sure whether heliked this way of shelving him from the Bureau for a season, Colin madehis way to the lower story of the building, where he felt that the twoyoung fur seals were old friends. As it happened, a couple of boys abouthis own age came along and, overhearing their remarks, Colin joined in,realizing that they had all sorts of wrong ideas about the seals. Hewaxed so enthusiastic that, as other people came in, they gatheredaround him and, before Colin was really conscious of it, he had quite anaudience. Among them was an old attendant of the Bureau who, as ithappened, had been on the Pribilof Islands with Dr. Brown Goode, in1872. He listened for a while, then said:
"I beg your pardon, sir, but have you been in St. Paul recently?"
"I was there this spring," Colin replied.
"It's just forty years this summer, sir, since I was on the islands.They tell me there's been great changes." And, without further ado, hecommenced to question Colin closely concerning the place, the boy havingequal interest in learning what the rookeries were like when the firstinvestigation was made. It was not until lunch-time that he could tearhimself away.
Promptly, at the hour appointed, Colin presented himself at the DeputyCommissioner's office and was met by Dr. Crafts' secretary. His pulsewas beating like a trip-hammer, and he probably looked nervous, for thesecretary glanced once or twice in his direction. Then, wishing to givenews that would be welcome, she said formally, of course, but betrayinga sincere kindliness:
"I think Mr. Collier is with Dr. Crafts now."
On the instant Colin detected that the secretary knew something aboutthe matter and wanted to reassure him, so he smiled back, saying:
"Thank you. I hope it will be all right, then."
The two men were chatting earnestly, and the wait seemed long to Colin,but after a while the Deputy Commissioner called him in.
"This is the boy, Robert," he said. "Colin," he continued, "let mepresent you to Mr. Collier."
"So you're coming along with me to Bermuda and Florida, I hear," themuseum curator said, shaking hands.
Colin looked up at the tall, gaunt figure and caught a twinkle ofgood-humor in the deeply-sunk gray eyes.
"I was hoping to before, sir," he answered, "and I'm hoping to, evenmore now."
"That's the way to talk, never lose a chance for a happy phrase," wasthe reply. "Well, Dr. Crafts here seems willing to go bail foryou--although I understand he never saw you before to-day--and I thinkwe could get along all right, so if you're satisfied, I guess we'll callit a deal. There's one difficulty, though."
"What's that, sir?" asked the boy.
"I shall probably need to go to Florida as well, and I should like tohave my assistant stay with me clear through."
"So much the better," the boy responded.
"But I understand you're going to start your freshman year in college?"
"Yes, sir," the boy answered, "I'm going to Brown."
"That's what I thought. But you see I don't expect to get back muchbefore the tenth of October, and college will have started by then. Idon't want," he continued, his eyes twinkling with fun, "to rob theother fellows of the fun of hazing you."
"I don't think there's much hazing at Brown, sir, and perhaps I shallmiss some of the fun of the opening of the year," Colin replied, afterthinking for a minute or two; "but I'd much rather take the trip withyou, sir, and I can soon catch up with my class in any subject the firstfew lectures of which I may have missed."
"But aren't you supposed to be in attendance on a certain day?"
"Yes, Mr. Collier," the boy replied, "I believe I should be. But Fathercan fix that all right."
"You think your father can arrange anything, Colin," said the DeputyCommissioner, smiling.
"Well, he always has!" the boy declared.
"If the Florida trip is no barrier," the curator said, "I think that wecan call the matter settled. Dr. Crafts told you that you would have topay your own passage?"
"Yes, sir."
"You'll like Bermuda, I think. Everything there's so much worth while."
"There you go again, Robert," said the Deputy Commissioner; "always insuperlatives."
"Of course! Who would want to be otherwise?" said the curator. He turnedto Colin. "Come and take dinner with me to-night, and we'll talk overthe details. Here's my card," and he penciled his address on thepasteboard. "I'll give you some seaweed pudding, carrageen, you know."
Colin didn't know, but he thanked his host heartily, and then turned tothe Deputy Commissioner.
"What is it, Colin?" he was asked.
"Please, sir," the boy replied, "you haven't said anything about mychances in the Bureau."
The Fisheries official looked straight at him with a long, level glance.
"We need high-grade, well-trained men," he said; "the more so becausethere are no really good ichthyological schools. And no matter howwell-trained a man may be he's got to have the practical experience andthe grit behind it. If you show in this trip that you're made of theright kind of stuff and if your college work is up to standard, I'llpromise you a summer job for next year and for each year that you're atcollege. You'll be advanced just exactly as fast as you deserve, and nota bit faster. If you want to go into the Bureau your record will bewatched, and you'll sink or swim by that!"
"Very well, sir," said Colin, a little taken aback by thisstraight-from-the-shoulder statement. "I'll do my best, anyhow." Heshook hands heartily, and thanking his new chief, hurried excitedly tothe hotel where his family was staying to tell of his success and of theunexpected addition of the Florida trip.
His father was quite well satisfied that the boy should have so pleasantan initiation into the life he had chosen, and was quite content thatthis semi-holiday opportunity had arisen instead of hard work in one ofthe hatchery stations. Major Dare felt that Colin had already had astrenuous summer and that it was advisable for him to do something alittle less adventurous before beginning his college work.
The evening that the lad spent with the scientist-artist was arevelation to him, for his host not only knew the life of the bottom ofthe sea as though he had always lived there, but he was a marvelousdesigner in glass, and possessed some of the most exquisite models offragile sea forms, all of which had been made under his direction.Several of these were magnified many times and were more beautiful eventhan any the boy had ever seen pictured.
There were no half-way measures in Colin's enthusiasm, and he begged Mr.Collier to lend him books, so that during the days that were to elapsebefore starting on the trip, he could get an idea of the life historiesof sea anemones, jellyfish, and the like, with which he would beworking. His friend was both amused and pleased by the lad's eagerness.
Mrs. Dare had visited friends in the Bermudas once or twice, so that shewas able to give Colin many suggestions which he found went far toincrease the pleasure of his stay. A meeting was arranged, and MajorDare liked his son's new friend immensely, quite a pleasant relationshipbeing established between the two men, so that Colin's departure forBermuda was under the happiest auspices. He soon learned that themuseum curator was not only an authority on his own subject of marineinvertebrates, but that he was interested to the utmost in all sorts ofaffairs, and he admitted confidentially to the boy that he was aninveterate baseball fan. Best of all, perhaps, Colin gained from him thefeeling that science and scholarship were two windows whereby
one mightsee how much good there is in the world.
"Enthusiasm," Mr. Collier said, "is one of the best forces I know. A boywithout enthusiasm is like a firecracker without a fuse. The powder maybe there all right, but it will never have a chance to make itselfheard."
The lesser-known life of the sea, in which the boy's interest wascentered for the especial purposes of this trip, seemed to Colin atfirst even more interesting than that of fishes and the voyage toBermuda was practically a continuous revelation of wonders. Thescientist realized that he had not only an assistant, but a disciple,and went to much trouble to teach the lad. This was one of Colin's greatcharacteristics, his interest was always so genuine and so thorough thatothers would do everything they could to help him.
The Bermuda Islands were sighted for the first time under a cloudy sky,and Colin thought he had never seen a more disappointing sight. Comparedto Santa Catalina, the islands lay low and without sharp contrast, nocliffs rising bluff upon the shore, no mountains looming purple in thedistance. The land was parched--for it was late in the summer--and thescattered foliage looked small and spindling after the gigantic forestsof California. The "beautiful Bermudas" seemed plain and uninviting asthe steamer passed St. David's Head. Moreover, as they steamed downalong the north shore, the same appearance was visible throughout, itslow undulating sea-front of black, honeycombed rock lacking character,the rare patches of sandy beach and sparse sunburned vegetation seemingbare and dreary.
Reaching Grassy Bay, however, past the navy yard and rounding Hog-fishBeacon, the sun came out and swiftly the scene became transfigured. Asthe steamer drew nearer and began to run between the islands in thechannel, the undulating shores showed themselves as hills and valleys inminiature. The bare, white spots were revealed as white coral houses setin masses of flowers, the foliage--sheltered from the north--gleameddark and luxuriant, while the shallowing crystal water glinted from thewhite sand below as though the steamer were sailing through atranslucent gem. Before the vessel had passed the length of the GreatSound and had warped into Hamilton, Colin had changed his mind, and waswilling to admit that, after all, Bermuda might be quite a pretty place.
But he could not have believed the transformation scene through which heseemed to pass on landing. Freed from the glare of the waterfront ofHamilton and on the road to Fairyland Bay, he seemed to have entered anew world. It was a Paradise of Flowers, even the Golden State could notoutdo it. Hedges of scarlet hibiscus flamed ten feet high, clusters ofpurple bougainvillea poured down from cottage-porches, while oleander inradiant bloom formed a hedge twenty feet high for as much as half a mileat a stretch. At one moment the road would pass a dense bananaplantation with the strange tall poles of the pawpaw trees standingsentinel, the next it would pass the dark recesses of a mangrove bay,where the sea ebbs and flows amid an impenetrable thicket of interlacingroots. And at frequent intervals a slight rise of ground would show theemerald sea beyond, gleaming as though lit with living light.
"'The land where it is always afternoon,'" quoted Mr. Collier softly, asthey drove up to the house where they were to stay, a small hoteloverlooking a narrow fiord of rock, into which the translucent waterrippled. Beyond, upon the gleaming bay rested three or four tinyislands.
"It's almost the loveliest place I ever saw," said Colin; "but it isn'tas grand and wild as Santa Catalina."
"I never want to leave Bermuda," said the other; "every time I visit theislands I decide that some day I must come and live here. And even whenI am away, its memories haunt me. Everything seems so much worth whilehere."
"What's the programme, Mr. Collier?" asked Colin, after lunch, when theywere comfortably settled.
"You are at liberty this afternoon," was the reply, "as I have a numberof small things to look after, so that if you want to get a glimpse ofthe islands, you had better make good use of your time. You ride awheel, of course?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then walk into Hamilton and rent one; bicycling is the only way to seeBermuda properly. And you'd better go to Devil's Hole this afternoon andsee the fish there. Try and persuade the old keeper of the place totalk, and if you can get him started, he will tell you a good deal aboutBermuda fishes. They're worth knowing about, too!"
Acting on this advice, Colin strolled into the little city and rented abicycle. The roads, he found, were perfect for wheeling, there beingonly one hill too steep for riding, but in spite of all that he hadheard about the absence of distances, it seemed incredible that anhour's easy wheeling should enable him to cover almost half the entirelength of the main island. Everything was in miniature, and having acamera with him, he took snapshots recklessly everywhere, each turn inthe road seeming to give a picture more attractive than the last. He wasto find, however, that the charm of Bermuda is too subtle for thephotographic plate.
On the way to Devil's Hole, taking the south-shore road, Colin had anopportunity of noticing its amazing contrast to the north shore, whichhad seemed so desolate and uninviting as the steamer came in. Theconformation was widely different, marked by higher cliffs, rocksjutting out boldly into the sea, with the waves boiling over them andthrowing up the spray, wide stretches of fine white sand, and as far asthe eye could see, small circular atolls of coral level with the surfaceof the water. He paused for a little while at the house where the Irishpoet, Thomas Moore, once dwelt while a government employee on theisland, and--like every visitor--he sat for a while under the famousCalabash Tree, renowned in verse. Nor did he fail to visit the marvelousstalactite caves of which Bermuda has five beautiful examples, lightedwith electricity to display their wonders. The boy was greatlyinterested in the most recently discovered one of all, where thestalactites branch like trees in a manner but little understood bygeologists. But, greatly though he wished to investigate this problem,Colin's objective point was the Devil's Hole; and fish, not stalactites,were his first consideration.
Devil's Hole was a strange place. Lying inland, a little distance fromHarrington Sound, and with no visible connection with the sea, it seemeda creation of its own. It was a pool, sunk in a bower of trees, almostexactly circular and over sixty feet deep. Silent and reflecting everydetail of trees and sky above, the dark water was filled with fishes ofmany varieties, nearly a thousand fish living near the surface or in itsdepths. Underground channels connected it with the Sound, that greatinland sea of Bermuda, and the water in the pool ebbed and flowed withthe tide, changing in level, however, but a couple of inches. A tinybridge spanned the water.
The old keeper of the place greeted Colin and proceeded to deliverhimself of a humorous rigmarole, designed for the benefit of tourists.It was pure 'nature-faking,' since it ascribed human characteristics tosome of the fish in the pool, the various specimens being called the"bride" and "groom" and so forth. The screed was rather wearisome toColin, but when he tried to interrupt, the old keeper seemed so hurt andso confused that the boy let him go on to the end.
The feeding of the fish was a matter of more interest, and it wasstriking to observe that the angel-fish and groupers were able torecognize their respective summons to food, for when the keeper tappedone portion of the bridge it gave a sharp cracking sound to which theangel-fish came flocking, while in calling the groupers and other fish,he hit another portion of the bridge, which reverberated in a differenttone, and the larger fish dashed through the water to the appointedplaces. After this performance was over the keeper was willing to talkless idly, and showed a very considerable knowledge of the species foundin Bermuda waters.
"I noticed," Colin said, "that you fed the angel-fish with sea-urchin. Idon't see how they can eat it with their tiny mouths, I should think thespines would get in the way."
"I crushes the spines before I throws 'em in," the keeper answered; "butthey eats 'em in the nateral state. I don't know how they gets at 'em.They has lots of savvy, sir, angel-fish has, and for a small fish theycan 'old their own. Why, even the big groupers lets 'em alone."
"Are the groupers fierce?" the boy asked, with his arms on the
rail,looking over at the fish.
"Fierce enough, sir," said the old man. "I was tellin' a party once,just what I was tellin' you a while ago about the fish----"
"Yes," said Colin wearily, realizing that the same nonsense about thebride fish and the bridegroom fish and the "old bachelor" and all therest of it had probably been given as a dose to every visitor fortwenty years back, "and what then?"
THE POOL WHERE THE DOG WAS DEVOURED.
Angel-fish and groupers in the Devil's Hole, Bermuda. Photographedlooking down in the water from the bridge. Note the reflection of thetrees on the water.
_Photograph by F. R-W_.]
"There was an officer in the party, sir," the keeper continued, "andwhen I spoke of the fish as bein' savage 'e laughed and said 'e didn'tbelieve it. 'E said 'e'd swam around among sharks and never got hurt,but I told 'im 'e wouldn't be willin' to take a plunge in the pool."
Colin looked down at the fish.
"They don't look very bad," he said; "but I don't think I'd like tochance it."
"You're right, sir; I wouldn't go in, not for a thousand pound. Well,this officer--'e was a captain, I think--made some remark about it allbein' nonsense, and said that even 'is dog would scare the fish so thatthey wouldn't as much as come up from the bottom."
"That sounds reasonable enough," said Colin; "a fish wouldn't try toattack a dog."
"That's what 'e said," the keeper continued; "and 'e bet me a 'arfsovereign on it. I didn't want to see the dog 'urt, but a bet's a bet,and there weren't no ladies present, so I took 'im up."
"Well?" queried Colin, as the keeper stopped.
"'E threw the dog in," the keeper answered; "it was a spaniel and quiteat 'ome in the water."
"What happened?"
"In about ten seconds the water was just alive with fish, swimmin' roundand round, comin' up by the 'undred from the deep water. Then they allturned black, like they do always before they're goin' to feed.Remember, I showed you that."
"Yes, I know; but go on."
"Then they all at once made a dash for the poor beast. I tried to pull'im out, but there was a couple of 'undred of 'em there, and 'e 'ad nochance. 'E gave just one yelp and then was pulled under, and thegroupers jolly well ate him clear down to the bones. We never saw 'idenor 'air of 'im agen!"
Colin shuddered a little as he looked at the groupers swimming idlyabout and said:
"Don't you suppose it was just because there were so many of them inthis small pool? I hardly think a grouper would attack anything as largeas a dog out in the open sea. They're much the same sort of fish asbass, you know."
"No, sir," the keeper answered; "I never 'eard of a grouper bein'dangerous out at sea. But there is a fish that's very bad around thecoral on the reef."
"You mean sharks?" Colin queried.
"No, sir," the keeper answered; "sharks ain't no fish."
Colin elevated his eyebrows a little at this somewhat surprising way ofstating that the sharks belonged to a lower order of marine species thanany other fish, but he let it pass unchallenged.
"What fish do you mean, then?" asked the boy.
"Not sharks," the keeper replied; "there ain't no sharks near Bermudaanyway, they can't get near enough. The reefs run ten mile out and theynever come away inside 'ere. No, sir, it's the moray I'm talkin' of."
"The moray?" echoed Colin thoughtfully. "Seems to me I've heard aboutthat fish somewhere. Isn't it green? It's called the green moray?"
"Yes, sir; that's the fish. But there's more spotted morays around thangreen ones."
"But that's hardly more a fish than a shark is," objected Colin. "Isn'ta moray a kind of eel?"
"Yes, sir, but an eel's a fish. Leastways so I was always told, when Iused to work over at the Aquarium on Agar's Island."
"All right," said Colin good-humoredly, "I guess you're in the rightabout it. Go ahead and tell me about the moray."
"I was just sayin', sir, that they were the only ugly things aroundBermuda. And they stay quite a bit from shore out around the coralatolls. You see lots of 'em around the sea-gardens. They 'ides in 'olesof the rocks and strikes out at other fishes like a snake. I knew adiver once, who was goin' down after specimens from one of thesea-garden boats, and was nearly drowned."
"How?" queried Colin a little incredulously. "The moray couldn't bitethrough the diving-bell."
"No, sir,--no, sir,--not through the diving-bell. But the india-rubbertube that put air into the 'elmet came swingin' past a 'ole in a rock inwhich a six-foot moray was waitin' for anything that might come along,and 'e darted out at it."
"Did he bite it through?" cried Colin.
"No, sir; a moray's teeth ain't set that way. 'Is teeth set backwards sothey 'old anything solid. 'E started to swallow the tube, the moray did,and jerked the diver on 'is back so that 'e couldn't pull thesignal-cord. 'E would have been drowned sure, for 'e was forty feetdown, but the water was so clear that some one on board the boat sawthe fish attack 'im, and they pulled 'im up."
"How about the moray?"
"'E was 'angin' on," was the reply; "'e wouldn't let go, and by the timethey 'ad the diver on board agen, the fish 'ad chewed up the air-tubepretty well. But that wasn't the worst, sir," said the talkative oldman, growing garrulous, as he saw the boy look at his watch. "Did youever 'ear 'ow a big moray 'ad a fight with two men, one of 'em afisherman from New York, and jolly well beat 'em both?"
"No," Colin answered; "how could that be?"
"I didn't see it myself," the keeper began, "but from all I 'ear thestory's straight enough. The fishin' party 'ad gone out on the reefsafter rockfish, which is one of the gamiest fighters we 'ave 'ere, andsome of 'em runs up to fifty and sixty pounds. They 'ad 'ooked severalfine 'ogfish--you want to 'ave a look at some of 'em; crimson fish theyare with long sweepin' spines--and the next bite turned out to be achub. They could see 'im plainly enough through the clear water. Whenpretty nigh the surface, just near'a large dome of brain coral, a longspotted fish shot out and seized the chub, swallowin' the 'ook into thebargain."
"Did they have a strong line?" Colin asked. "A moray is a powerful fish,isn't he?"
"'E's all muscle and teeth," the keeper answered. "Yes, sir, it was'andline fishin' and they 'ad a good strong line, so it was a sure thingthat they could land 'im if 'e didn't wrap the line around a rock.Israel, the boatman, wanted to cut the line, but the New Yorker 'e said,no; 'ad never caught a moray before and 'e 'oped to get this one. Sothey got the boat out into deeper water, Israel keepin' it clear of thereefs and the fisherman tryin' to 'aul in the line."
"It must have been good fun!" exclaimed Colin. "I wish I'd been there!"
"Just you wait till you've 'eard what 'appened, young sir," the old manwarned him, "and then p'r'aps you'll be glad you weren't."
"All right," the boy prompted him; "go ahead."
"'E was plucky, though, this chap, so Israel told me, for while 'is 'andwas cut with the line two or three times when the moray made a viciousrush, still 'e 'ung on and that's not as easy as it sounds. But in about'alf an hour the fish was seemin'ly done for and the New Yorker pulled'im in, 'and over 'and, as easy as you please. Just as 'e got 'im to thegunwale, though, the moray gave an extra wriggle, and bein' afraid that'e might get away agen, the fisherman gave a sudden pull and brought 'imon board without waitin' to stun 'im."
Colin grinned appreciatively.
"I've heard of a chap who got into trouble with a conger eel that way,"he said. "But go ahead with the story."
"For about a minute or two, so Israel told me," the old man went on,"the moray stayed quiet at the bottom of the boat. Then 'e put up 'is'ead, with its gleamin', wicked teeth, and looked first at Israel andthen at the New Yorker. 'E next sort of shook 'imself all along thespine, to make sure 'e was all there, and began to squirm 'is way towardthe stern."
"That was where the angler was?" queried Colin.
"Yes, sir; Israel was in the bow. 'E said the New Yorker didn't seem totake it in at first, but that 'e suddenly gave a yell,
jumped on one ofthe thwarts, and grabbed the boat-'ook. The fish was an ugly-lookin'brute, from what I 'ear, and a spotted moray over six feet long is asnasty a thing to face as anything I know of."
"But he didn't deliberately attack the men, did he?"
"That's just what 'e did! There wasn't no threshin' around andflurryin', but the vicious brute acted just like some kind of asea-snake. The fisherman brought down the boat-'ook with all 'is might,but the moray just twisted sidewise as the blow came down, and theblunt-pointed 'ead, with its rows of sharp teeth, darted forward for theNew Yorker's leg.
"This was too much for 'is nerves and, with a 'owl that could have been'eard a mile away, the fisherman jumped from the dingey into the sea,the teeth of the moray closin' on the thwart where the man's foot 'adbeen a minute before. There was a sound of splinterin', and the eel bitan inch of wood clear out of the board."
"My word, there must have been power behind that jaw!" ejaculated Colin.
"For a minute or two the moray was quiet, and then 'e turned round. Butin turnin' 'e got imself twisted, the line which was still fast to 'islower jaw becomin' entangled around one of the rowlocks. But this gave'im 'is chance: with a sudden pull, 'e broke the line and was free.Then, so Israel says, the fish just looked at 'im, and began to slidealong the boat. But Israel didn't wait to find out what the moray wasafter, 'e just decided to take no chances, and jumped for the mast."
"Why for the mast?" queried Colin. "He couldn't hang on there verylong."
"No," the old keeper answered; "but supposin' he went overboard with theNew Yorker, what could they do with the boat? Ask the moray to sail itinto 'Amilton? No, Israel climbed up the light mast 'igh enough for 'isweight to capsize the dingey. As soon as the boat turned over on itsside and the water came in, the moray saw the way to freedom, and dashedback to 'is 'ome in the reefs, 'avin' beaten two good men and gottenaway 'imself."