Diving in the Water Garden also continued to afford us as much pleasure
as ever; and Peterkin began to be a little more expert in the water
from constant practice. As for Jack and me, we began to feel as if
water were our native element, and revelled in it with so much
confidence and comfort that Peterkin said he feared we would turn into
fish some day and swim off and leave him, adding that he had been for a
long time observing that Jack was becoming more and more like a shark
every day. Whereupon Jack remarked that if he, Peterkin, were changed
into a fish, he would certainly turn into nothing better or bigger than
a shrimp. Poor Peterkin did not envy us our delightful excursions under
water, except, indeed, when Jack would dive down to the bottom of the
Water Garden, sit down on a rock, and look up and make faces at him.
Peterkin did feel envious then, and often said he would give anything
to be able to do that. I was much amused when Peterkin said this; for
if he could only have seen his own face when he happened to take a
short dive, he would have seen that Jack's was far surpassed by it: the
great difference being, however, that Jack made faces on purpose--
Peterkin couldn't help it!
Now, while we were engaged with these occupations and amusements, an
event occurred one day which was as unexpected as it was exceedingly
alarming and very horrible.
Jack and I were sitting, as we were often wont to do, on the rocks at
Spouting Cliff, and Peterkin was wringing the water from his garments,
having recently fallen by accident into the sea--a thing he was
constantly doing--when our attention was suddenly arrested by two
objects which appeared on the horizon.
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