Part 24 (1/2)

Colin was conscious inwardly that he would have preferred to have nothing at all to do with the repulsive object, but as he had come out in pursuit of an octopus, he would not, for the world, have shown the white feather before the boater,” he said, with an overdone assumption of ease

”I t'ink, sair,” Vincente responded, ”zat we'd better be satisfied wit'

zis one Shall I take it or will you?”

There was just a hint of irony in the boat the timidity he had shohen clutched by the squid, Colin felt that this was the chance to redee it,” he said ”You say these things are quite harmless”

”Quite, sair, I t'ink,” the boatht,” was the boy's rejoinder, and he walked forward boldly toward the octopus The green eyes regarded hirasp the sliather itself in a heap and started for the sea

This was an unexpectedstated that he wanted that octopus, did not propose to be cheated out of it He was surprised that the cuttlefish could ave way to exciteht-arrab it when he tripped on a rock, covered with slippery seaweed, and fell headlong, the fall throwing hiered, and he never knehether he had grabbed the cephalopod or whether it had grasped hiround with six of the eight arms of the octopus around him

The boy was just in time to throw up his hands to protect his eyes, as a torrent of the inky fluid deluged hiet up, but the two tentacles of the cuttlefish held fast to adjacent rocks, and Colinto the aard attitude in which he had been caught, but for Vincente, renched the tentacles away froht, sair?” the boatot up

Seldoht! He was black from head to foot with the sepia fluid, his clothes were torn where he had fallen on the rocks, and he was smothered in the nauseous eht-ar to his shoulder Once, on the way to the boat, the cuttlefish see, Colin made believe to force apart the other tentacles, and the octopus renewed its hold As soon as they reached the boat and the boy stood still a o, and fell to the bottohed, then ju around in the water to re in when he had washed off the worst of it

Vincente looked at hiht to be photograph' wit' ze catch!”

CHAPTER VI

DEFEATED BY A SPOTTED MORAY

Colin's brilliant success at Santa Catalina, signalized by his receipt of the tuna button, had so increased Major Dare's pride in him that when the boy renewed his request that he be allowed to enter the Bureau of Fisheries, his appeal received attention The inspiration that he had gained from the whole-hearted enthusiasm of the professor was evident in all that the boy said, and his father was surprised to find how much the lad really had learned about the work of the Govern Sea and on the Columbia River

”It doesn't appeal to me particularly,” his father said quietly, when the boy closed a somewhat impassioned petition, ”but we are each built upon a different pattern To me, fish are of interest as a food and for sport I couldn't be satisfied to take them up as a lifework There's no money in it; of course, you can see that”

”There isn't in any govern fortunes are alwaysout in life, it is much more important to be able to do the work you like than it is to seek only forI'm afraid of is that you will find it tiresoood deal ofparticularly attractive in a bushel of fish-eggs!”

”But it's only on the start that you have to do the steady grind,” Colin objected, ”and one has to do that in every line of work I know you would very , but I think a fish is ato ith than a hill of corn or a jack-pine”

”But don't you think you would find it taerly

”I knoouldn't,” he said confidently ”I've heard you say, Father, that everything was interesting if you only went into it deeply enough

Now, there's inal ith fish than in any other line I've ever heard of The professor gaveto solve, and each of theot to be a doctor to study fish diseases, an engineer to devise ways and means for stream conditions, a chemist to work on poisons in the water that cos beside It looks to h it had the best of all the professions boiled down into one!”