Page:Bedford-Jones--Boy Scouts of the Air at Cape Peril.djvu/119

 the imminent peril that seemed to confront Turner, made a grab for the weapon at the same time, but Miller was the first to close his hand over the butt, snatching the weapon from the holster. By a supreme effort, the man still clutched the pole, his teeth clenched and with a desperate look on his tense face.

"Shoot—shoot!" he commanded.

Cat's form became rigid, he thrust his arm downward, tightened a finger on the trigger, and as a swelling wave brought the great fish a foot closer, he plumped shell after shell at his victim. The first steel plopped the water, but the rest found their marks in the head and throat. After several tremendous churning flips and convulsions, the creature rose and fell an inert mass on the surface of the water.

Turner, heaving a sigh from the bottom of his chest, released his hold on the pole and staggered back against the cockpit.

"Thank God!" he gasped as every muscle relaxed from the tremendous tension. "That was a man's shot! Cat, boy, it gives me the shivers all over even now to think of what might