"Make a fire, lad, and dry ourselves," replied Jack.

"And here is material ready to our hand," said I, picking up a
dried branch of a tree, as we hurried up to the woods.

In about an hour after this mishap our clothes were again dried.
While they were hanging up before the fire, we walked down to the
beach, and soon observed that these curious spouts took place
immediately after the fall of a huge wave, never before it; and,
moreover, that the spouts did not take place excepting when the
billow was an extremely large one. From this we concluded that
there must be a subterraneous channel in the rock into which the
water was driven by the larger waves, and finding no way of escape
except through these small holes, was thus forced up violently
through them. At any rate, we could not conceive any other reason
for these strange water-spouts, and as this seemed a very simple
and probable one, we forthwith adopted it.

"I say, Ralph, what's that in the water? is it a shark?" said Jack,
just as we were about to quit the place.

I immediately ran to the overhanging ledge of rock, from which he
was looking down into the sea, and bent over it. There I saw a
very faint pale object of a greenish colour, which seemed to move
slightly while I looked at it.

"It's like a fish of some sort," said I.

"Hallo, Peterkin!" cried Jack, "fetch your spear; here's work for