"Well, they were all taken aback at this, yer see, an' now began to crowd up an' examine the thing. It was perfectly round, about two feet through, an' the eend of it was as taperin' an' sharp as a needle. Sure as yer live, it was all true. Well, it was a question what to do with the thing. Most on 'em was in favor of goin' down inter the hold, and cuttin' off the snout, in order to let the thing float; for, as it was, if we should come anywhar whar the water was less'n fifteen fathoms, we should be stranded by the cussed critter afoul of us. "'Not at all,' says I. 'We don't git a good tough mast for nothin' every day in the week, and I'm in favor of cuttin' clear of the fish on the outside.' "They were all kinder astonished at this 'ere, but I didn't give 'em breathin'-time, but says again: "'Now which one on yer'll volunteer to dive under the keel with a handsaw and cut loose from the varmint on the outside?' "Would yer believe it, not one on 'em wanted to go. So I says: "'If ye'r' all so pesky skeered, why, _I'll_ go myself. Carpenter, bring me yer handsaw, an' jist sharpen her up while I'm disrobin' my graceful form.' "So the carpenter brings his handsaw, with a piece of bacon-fat to grease her with, and, when I gits ondressed, overboard I goes with the saw between my teeth. I dove right under the keel in a jiffy, and thar, sure enough, lays the sword-fish, with his nose hard up ag'in' the timbers, and his body danglin' down through the brine about seventy-five feet. "'What are you goin' ter do?' says he. "Says _who_?" broke in Tony. "Yas, Massa Bluefish, who was it says dat?" demanded Snollygoster, with an incredulous look on his ebony face. "Why, the sword-fish, yer ignorant lubbers! Doesn't yer know that they talk like lawyers when they git inter a scrape? I knowed a feller what heerd one of 'em sing the Star Spangled Banner fit to kill. "Well, as I was a-sayin', says he ter me, 'What air you goin' ter do?' "'Ter saw yer loose from the ship,' I corresponded. "'All right,' says he," only I'm afeard it'll hurt some.' "'I shouldn't wonder if it do,' says I; and with that I grabs his nozzle an' begins to saw like sixty. "The way that poor devil hollered and snorted and flopped was a caution to seafarin' men. The men above water swore it sounded like ninety-three earthquakes piled on to a bu'stin' big volcano, an' I reckon it did. But I kept on sawin' and sawin', till at last the varmint dropped off, while the sea for 'bout ten miles round the ship became perfectly crimson with his blood. He made a big bite at me, but I ducked about like a porpoise, and succeeded in reachin' the deck without a scratch. "The varmint was bent on vengeance, and made his appearance with his mouth wide open--big enough to have swallered a seventy-four, without so much as a toothache. But we fired a broadside of shrapnel and red-hot shot down his throat, an' he went off, waggin' his tail as if he didn't like it.