The newspapers carried the expeditions report, which said;
1. In several places on the beaches we examined we found narrow footprints of a distinct human shape. Though leading from and back to the sea, they might have been made by people from boats.
2. The nets we examined had cuts of the type produced by sharp instruments.
They might have been caught on sharp underwater crags or twisted metalwork of wrecks.
3. A report brought to our attention-of a dolphin that had been carried by a storm ashore, well clear of the water, and dragged back into the sea by someone who had left behind what looked like clawed footprints, has been carefully looked into.
We are fully satisfied that the dolphin in question had been restored to its element by some kindhearted fisherman. Nor would this have been the only instance of kindness on the part of fishermen towards dolphins. It is common knowledge that dolphins in pursuit of fish sometimes help the fishermen in that they drive fish to the shallows inshore. The alleged claws of the footprints could have been the work of the witnesses imagination.
4. The kid might have been brought by boat and slipped on board by some practical joker.
The scientists had a lot more to say in their attempts to explain away the devils doings. They were convinced that no sea creature could have performed them.
But the scientists explanations did not satisfy everybody. They seemed insufficient even for some of the scientists. How could a practical joker-however resourceful and clever-keep dark his identity for so long? Yet what made the whole thing really baffling was that according to the expeditions findings-incidentally not included in their report-the devil sometimes performed several tricks of his at short intervals in places situated very widely apart. Either the devil could travel at an unheard-of speed or there were several of them at work. And that made the practical joker idea altogether too thick to believe.
That was what went through Zuritas mind as he paced up and down his cabin.
Dawn had come unnoticed and with it a pink beam of light, stealing through the port-hole. Pedro put out the lamp and started washing.
As he poured the tepid water over his head he heard cries of alarm coming from deck. Halfwashed, he hurried up the companion ladder.
Pressing to the rail on the seaward side of the schooner the divers in loin-cloths were gesticulating amid a tumult of voices. Pedro looked down. There were no boats where they had been the previous night. Apparently they had gone adrift somehow in the night off-shore breeze. Now the morning breeze was slowly bringing them shorewards. Their oars were afloat, scattered all over the bay.
Zurita ordered the divers to collect the boats. Nobody budged. Zurita repeated his order.
Why dont you go and try your own luck with the devil? somebody said.
Zurita placed a hand on his holster. The divers fell back against the mast, glowering at Zurita. A showdown seemed inevitable. Then Baltasar stepped into the breach.
There isnt a thing will scare an Araucanian, he said. A shark didnt fancy my old bones, neither will the sea-devil. Lifting his arms he took a dive and swam towards the boats. The divers pressed to the rail again, watching Baltasars progress with alarm. Handicapped though he was by age and an injured leg, he swam like a fish. A few powerful strokes brought the Indian alongside a boat. Picking up a floating oar he climbed into the boat.
The painters cut with a knife, he shouted. Clean work-couldnt have been done better with a razor.
Seeing Baltasar safe and sound some of the divers followed suit.
Riding a Dolphin
Though only just risen the sun was scorchingly hot. There was not a cloud in the sky, not a ripple on the sea. The Jellyfish was a dozen miles or so south of Buenos Aires when, following Baltasars advice, anchor was dropped in a small bay near a shore that rose in two rocky ledges straight from the water.
The boats scattered all over the bay. Each was manned by two divers, who did the diving and the hauling in turns.
The diver in the boat closest inshore seized a big piece of coral that was tied to the diving cord between his legs and made swiftly for the sea-bed.
The water was warm and so transparent that you could count the pebbles on the sea-bed. Closer inshore corals rose up like so many bushes of a petrified submarine garden. Small silver-bodied fish flashed in and out among the bushes.
The diver crouched on the sea-bed, quickly picking shells and putting them into the small bag hooked to his leather belt. His tender, a Gurona Indian, his head and shoulders bent over the gunwale for a better view of the diver, held to his end of the diving cord.
Suddenly he saw the diver leap up, snatch at the cord and give it a sharp tug that nearly pulled the Gurona overboard. The boat rocked. The Indian hurried hand over hand with the cord. Presently he was helping the heavily breathing man into the boat. His pupils were dilated, his dusky face ashen.
Was it a shark?
But the diver had not recovered sufficient wind to answer.
What could have scared him so badly? The Gurona bent low to the water surface for a better look. Something was definitely wrong down there. The small fry-like birds spotting a falcon-were speeding to the safety of submarine forest thickets.
Then he saw what looked like a cloud of purplish smoke billow into view from behind a submarine rock. As the cloud grew bigger the water turned a pinkish tint. Then a dark shape half-appeared from behind the rock, made a slow turn and slid back. That was a shark and the purplish cloud-blood spilt on the seabed. What could have happened down there? The Gurona looked at his mate. But he couldnt provide the answer. Lying on his back, he was snatching air with wide-open mouth, staring with unseeing eyes into the skies. There was nothing for it but to take him straight to the Jellyfish.
All the divers that were on board clustered round the man.
Speak up, man, said a young Indian, shaking the diver. Afraid your funky soul will part company with your body, if you open your mouth, eh?
The diver shook his head, slowly recovering.
I saw the sea-devil, he said in a hollow faltering voice.
The sea-devil?
Come on then, for Christs sake, tell us about him, the divers shouted impatiently.
I looked up and saw a shark. Making straight for me. A big black brute with its huge jaws ready to snap. It sure seemed Id had it. Then I saw him
The devil?
What does he look like? Has he got a head?
A head? Think he has. Eyes as big as saucers.
If he has eyes he must have a head, was the young Indians verdict. Eyes dont come all by themselves. Any legs?
Hes got front legs-like a frogs. Long green fingers, webbed and with daws. And hes all ablaze like a fish with scales. He makes for the shark, flashes with a front leg. Swish! Theres a fountain of blood-
What do his hind legs look like? a diver interrupted him.
Hind legs? He tried to remember. Theres no hind legs. Just a big tail-ending in two snakes.
Who gave you the worst scare, him or the shark?
The monster! came the unhesitating answer. For all it saved my life.
The sea-devil, said an Indian.
The sea-god that helps the poor, an old Indian corrected him.
By this time the news had reached the farthest boats and more and more divers were coming on board, eager for the story.
The man was made to repeat his story over and over again. As he did so he recalled more details. It now appeared that the monster breathed fire and wriggled its ears, had sabre-like teeth, large fins and a tail like a rudder.
White-trousered and sombreroed Pedro Zurita shuffled back and forth in the background, his bare feet thrust into a pair of sandals, taking note of what was being said.
The more the diver recovered the use of his tongue the more Pedro became convinced that it was all a shark-scared divers imagination. And yet it cant be only that, he thought. Somebody did slit that sharks side open-with all that pinkish water in the bay. The Indians lying but theres obviously more to it than meets the eyes. Rum business, dammit, he thought.
At that moment Zuritas train of thought was cut short by the blow of a horn coming from the direction of the reefs.
It had the effect of a thunderbolt. Tongues were paralyzed. Faces turned ashen-grey. Horror-stricken eyes stared in the direction of the reefs.
Near the reefs a family of dolphins were frisking in the water. One of the dolphins gave a loud snort as if in response to the horn summons, made for the reefs and was soon lost to sight behind them. After a few tense moments it reappeared. Riding it was the oddest creature, in fact, the very sea-devil just described by (he diver. The monster had the body and head of a man, with a pair of immense eyes that blazed in the sun like a cars headlights; silvery-blue skin and dark-green forelegs, long-fingered and webbed. The creatures legs were immersed in the water, so there was no telling whether they were of man or of beast. In one of its forelegs the creature had a long winding shell. Giving another blow on it the creature laughed a gay manly laugh and suddenly shouted: Full speed ahead, Leading! in perfect Spanish, patted the dolphins glossy back with its frogs hand and spurred its mount with its legs. And like a well-broken horse the dolphin put on speed.
A cry of surprise escaped the divers.
The creature looked round. The next they knew it was off the dolphin and on the other side of it. A green foreleg shot into sight to slap the dolphins back. Obedient to it the mount submerged.
The odd pair could just be seen making a quick half-circle and then it disappeared behind the reefs.
The whole thing had taken not more than a minute but the lookers-on stood rooted to the spot for some time.
Then hell broke loose. Some of the Indians shouted and ran about as though demented, others fell on their knees and prayed to God to spare their lives. A young Mexican, bawling with fright, took refuge high up the main mast. The Blacks crept below into the hold.
There could be no question of going on with the work. It was all Pedro and Bal-tasar. could do to restore some order. The Jellyfish weighed anchor and sailed due north.
Zuritas Ill Luck
The master of the vessel went below, to his cabin, to think things over. Its enough to drive one mad! he thought, pouring tepid water from a jug over his head. A sea-monster speaking the purest Castellano! What was it? The Devils work? Hallutination? Cant happen to whole crews though. No two men even see the same dream. But we all saw the thing. Thats a fact. So the sea-devil does exist after all-however impossible it may sound. Zurita poured more water over his head and leaned out of the port-hole for some fresh air.
Sea-devil or not, he thought on, calming a bit, the monster appears to possess intelligence and an excellent command of Spanish. You should be able to talk to it. Suppose-Yes, why not? Suppose I catch it and make it dive for pearls. Why, a creature like that would be worth a whole shipful of divers. Id be simply minting money! Every diver must have his fourth of the catch but this thing hered only cost me its keep. Thatd mean thousands, millions of pesos rolling in.
Zurita glowed with his vision of wealth. Not that it was the first time he had had it. Time and again he had dreamt of finding new, still untapped, pearling grounds. The Persian Gulf, the western coast of Ceylon, the Red Sea and the coasts of Australia were far too distant for him and pretty well fished clean at that. Even the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of California and the coast of Venezuela, where the best American pearls were found, were too remote for his ancient schooner. Hed need more divers too. And Zurita had no money for that. So he kept in home waters. But now it was different. Now he could make his pile-once he had the sea-devil in his hands.
Hed be the richest man in Argentina, perhaps in both Americas. Money would pave his way to power. His name would sweep the world But he had to play his hand careful like-and first see to it that the crew didnt talk.
Zurita went on deck and had the whole crew down to the cook called up.
You all know, he told them, what happened to those who had been spreading rumours about the sea-devil. If you dont theyre still in jail. Let me give you a word of warning. This is it: anyone of you caught speaking of having seen the sea-devil will be clapped in jail to feed vermin. Got that? So keep it under your hats unless you want to get into trouble.
Nobodyd believe them anyway, not a fairy-tale like that, Zurita thought, and, telling Baltasar to follow him, went below.
Baltasar listened to Zuritas plan in silence.
Sounds good, he said after a moments thought. The creatures worth a hundred divers. A devil at your beck and call-not bad, eh? But youve got to catch it first.
A sturdy netll take care of that, said Zurita.
Hell rip a net open as easily as he ripped that sharks belly.
We can order a wire net.
Whos going to do the catching? Not our divers. Theres not one in the whole lot of em wont turn yellow at the mere name of it. They wouldnt dream of giving a hand, not for all the riches in the world.
What about you, Baltasar?
The Indian shrugged his shoulders.
Ive never hunted a sea-devil. I expect itll be no easy thing stalking him, seeing as youll want him alive.
Youre not afraid, are you, Baltasar? What do you make of this sea-devil anyway?
What can I make of a jaguar that takes to the air or a shark that climbs the trees? A beast you dont know is terrifying. But I like my game terrifying.
Ill make it worth your while. Zurita placed an assuring hand on Baltasars arm.
The fewer people in on it, the better, he went on elaborating his plan. You speak to the Araucanians we have on board. Theyve got more guts between them than the rest. Pick half a dozen from them, no more. If ours hold back, look about for others on shore. The devil seems to be keeping close inshore. Well try and locate his lair first. Then well know where to shoot our net.
They wasted no time. Zurita had a wire bag net that looked like a big barrel with the bottom open made to order. Inside it he spread ordinary nets, in a way calculated to enmesh the devil. The divers were paid off. Baltasar had only managed to enlist two Araucanians from the crew. Another three he had signed on in Buenos Aires.
It was decided to start the devil hunt in the bay where they had first seen it. The schooner dropped anchor a few miles off the bay so as not to arouse the devils suspicions. While Zuritas party occupied themselves with occasional fishing-to justify their hanging around-they took turns in watching the waters of the bay from the shelter of some rocks on the shore.
A second week was running out but there was still no sign of the devil.