The bonitas had taken alarm, and were darting here and there, and leaping into the air to escape their natural enemy, whose method of attack is to make a sudden dart at his victim and impale him upon his bill or sword, which projects in a straight line ahead of him. All the watch on deck were collected at the bow to witness the sport, and the irons were ready, if the opportunity offered, to transfix him, even as he would the bonita. Suddenly, after having paused a moment as if to make sure of his aim, he made a dart towards the ship with the speed of lightning; the wily bonita eluded him by leaping above the surface just in time, and the bill-fish disappeared in the swash under the ship's bows. Father Grafton darted at him as he flew past, but missed him; a slight jar was perceptible to us on deck, as though the ship had hit some small, hard object, and the fish rose to the surface under the fore-chains, quivering in the agony of death, his bill broken off short up to his head! No time was lost in bringing the ship to the wind, and lowering a boat; and we soon secured the fish and took him in on deck. "How did he break his bill off so short?" I asked, innocently. "He has run it into the ship, of course," said Father Grafton. "His bill is probably sticking in our bows under water. I hope it will caulk its own hole tight. Rig the pump there, a couple of ye, and try her." We did so, and found we had started a small leak; at least, we found more water than usual, though it was difficult to tell immediately. A few hours hence we could judge better. The mate and I went into the forepeak with a light, and after moving a lot of wood and empty breakers, we found what we were in search of; the end of the bill, projecting full six inches through the ceiling or inside planking of the bows: the bone, bare and smooth as if polished with sand paper. Of course we could tell nothing about the leak from the inside, except that we could hear the water trickling down between the timbers. The old man came down and had a look at it and estimated it to be about three feet below the water line. "If so," said he, "we can stop the leak ourselves in any smooth harbor where we can get her head up and trim her stern down. There is no fear of its working loose as long as the wood is new and sound round it. The leak is not a serious one, to be sure, but it is enough to annoy us all the time and make considerable work, and a kind of work, too, that no sailor is fond of. We must try, when we get in, and see what we can do with it."