As I walked, my eyes were bent upon the beach so that it was not until I had come quite upon it that I discovered that which shattered all my beautiful dream of solitude and safety and peace and...
The rude shock of awakening to what doubtless
might prove some new form of danger was still upon me when I heard a
rattling of loose stones from the direction of the bluff, and turning my
eyes in that direction I beheld the author of the disturbance, a great
copper-colored man, running rapidly toward me.
/>There was that in the haste with which he came which seemed quite
sufficiently menacing, so that I did not need the added evidence of
brandishing spear and scowling face to warn me that I was in no safe
position, but whither to flee was indeed a momentous question.
/>
The speed of the fellow seemed to preclude the
possibility of escaping him upon the open beach. There was but a single
alternative—the rude skiff—and with a celerity which equaled his, I pushed
the thing into the sea and as it floated gave a final shove and clambered
in over the end.
A cry of rage rose from the owner
of the primitive craft, and an instant later his heavy, stone-tipped spear
grazed my shoulder and buried itself in the bow of the boat beyond. Then I
grasped the paddle, and with feverish haste urged the awkward, wobbly
thing out upon the surface of the sea.
A glance
over my shoulder showed me that the copper-colored one had plunged in
after me and was swimming rapidly in pursuit. His mighty strokes bade fair
to close up the distance between us in short order, for at best I could
make but slow progress with my unfamiliar craft, which nosed stubbornly in
every direction but that which I desired to follow, so that fully half my
energy was expended in turning its blunt prow back into the course.
/>
[pgallery] [img alt="flower"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmMnwpLWRc8GZEGgOkVM7TOo1g9wzqqtj7IccTdrAH9iBcaMKhH7r3PM_lEY6DW3MeNOTKnG1HlS4xVKAMDEeYZIepMOi_l0_mxe4Oh2GqTaRxxfvbeLmfvxrocEJKlOEGTa7feJTEcOo/s320/foods_3.jpg"][/img]
[img alt="Interior"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSK6enUGEya5xDYVd0fB5U3D2-_7OAx5eXUDP3cvsgAF0uP6idQ4QlB2aNADhvVsP5FU09ibtgjNLhKjZ5H3DNa22Nbi87aZx9HEanBJ2eYicwGDRCa4sr9yrxm5ZlCsNnNQ4Iua5S30/s1600/foods_4.jpg"][/img]
[img alt="Wedding"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcaztNTxBrmwAc5QV3kvy_NFf7bBAQNqsmzTkD-bKrAiLZsR6bddE9HW9I6SO1McgJPksJb4b3e9ux3rEhgWdbx69KiTvmvTpBcV6jL9Dnn_vG09_4V6drZxAL0y48V0mndIqsdfwd7Gej/s300/blog-511-700x466.jpg"][/img]
[img alt="fashion"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEfSRy4mWNVUpWk3Cur3QM3YZn5zHyRV1N964r2p-ewfO2yCDQIdGkPI7kCtlIx06IcvjhDi6WiMivrdWcZ31EyvO1YYDlJAdvhWYE5PvsTO0CPupmhRfVZV-xew13AVt-HV7g4VqmPTHE/s300/fashion4-700x357.jpg"][/img]
[img alt="other fashion"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxUh7WLVDHAAgBvS_iBDKU1LzFAIYa_b0EqN8_QplxVPRhKvSBjD4tBosr6ZDA_QYBAFcL-hHU0Zh3dgoLhHO4eeAMjlzmRrhE8pVRnc9dM1NjTIRe2ag-WjI9DGhhPpZwNtiNBe6rbU/s1600/foods_6.jpg"][/img]
[img alt="cars"
src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFG50H43fOmsOBZhvHIRbQbACn7r1pgLao4aWt_y1kmV4pwwM1VBnhEqSohZ_rI1h1mqZzzYjWcWq0aclt9y-vpy2V7cXlfQ6L1Q1EwuR1-acvDbOR45TCbjFdTRs2icvd5iWw_pT0t6P/s300/Bmw-I8-Concept-Spyder-HD-Wallpaper-1080p.jpg"][/img]
[/pgallery]
I had covered some hundred yards from
shore when it became evident that my pursuer must grasp the stern of the
skiff within the next half-dozen strokes. In a frenzy of despair, I bent
to the grandfather of all paddles in a hopeless effort to escape, and
still the copper giant behind me gained and gained.
His hand
was reaching upward for the stern when I saw a sleek, sinuous body shoot
from the depths below. The man saw it too, and the look of terror that
overspread his face assured me that I need have no further concern as to
him, for the fear of certain death was in his look.
/>And then about him coiled the great, slimy folds of a hideous monster
of that prehistoric deep—a mighty serpent of the sea, with fanged jaws,
and darting forked tongue, with bulging eyes, and bony protuberances upon
head and snout that formed short, stout horns.
As I
looked at that hopeless struggle my eyes met those of the doomed man, and
I could have sworn that in his I saw an expression of hopeless appeal. But
whether I did or not there swept through me a sudden compassion for the
fellow. He was indeed a brother-man, and that he might have killed me with
pleasure had he caught me was forgotten in the extremity of his
danger.