Marine animals -- Juvenile literature; Salmon -- Juvenile literature
"Dear me! what a very large place the sea is," said Sammy. He had gone
quite a distance before he realized that the occasion for hurry was
now over, and then he rose gracefully to the surface and looked about
him. Overhead stretched the blue sky speckled with fleecy, white
clouds, and off in the distance a long line of white sand showed the
shore line, against which the incoming tide sent its undulating
billows. Near the shore circled a flock of sea-gulls, and far away,
where sea and sky seemed to meet, the white sails of a ship gleamed in
the sun. In every other direction, as far as the eye could reach,
stretched the blue waters of the ocean.
Presently a large fish sprang from the waves, his silvery scales
sparkling in the sun, then fell back with a gentle splash. This
recalled Sammy to himself, and diving hastily below, he swam slowly
about looking at his surroundings with a good deal of curiosity.
It was a strange world on which he gazed. Water was everywhere, above,
below, and on all sides, and strange weeds and vegetables grew up from
hidden rocks. A graceful jelly-fish floated past, expanding and
contracting its umbrella-shaped body, and waving about its long arms
or tentacles. Queer fish of all shapes and sizes swam about, the
larger ones eying the stranger curiously, the smaller keeping at a
respectful distance.
But Sammy had a very friendly feeling towards them all, and was just
about to speak to a near-by fish, whose appearance seemed to indicate
that he might belong to the Salmon family, when suddenly there was a
general hurrying out of the way on all sides. Many of the fish dived
quickly below to hide in some convenient spot, and the more rapid
swimmers took to their fins with great haste.
Turning quickly to see the cause of the commotion, Sammy discovered a
large, and very hungry-looking shark just behind him. The creature had
a hideous mouth, with several rows of sharp teeth, and while not
dangerous to man, this Dog-Fish, or Blue Shark, has a great liking for
young and tender fish.
This fact our hero instantly divined, and sped away as fast as his
fins could carry him, Mr. Shark in hot pursuit. Sammy had the
advantage of being some distance from his enemy when discovered, but
sharks are extremely swift swimmers, and for a time it seemed as if
poor Sammy's fate was sealed. No matter how hard he swam the monster
slowly gained on him. No race with his playfellows in the stream at
home was ever so exciting as this. All the famous swimming qualities
of his family were put to the test now, as he darted like an arrow
through the water, the cruel shark close behind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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