02 South Sea Adventure by Willard Price Read Free Book Online Page A

straight into the hating eyes and could not help dreading that they would read his mind. He tried to relax his muscles and hang limp so that his sudden move, when he made it, would be unexpected.
    With a sharp twist he lunged at the pealike protuberance and caught it firmly between his teeth. Then he bit - hard. The monster groaned like a human being in great agony. ft struggled weakly and clouded the water with ink. The suckers lost their vacuum control and the tentacles fell away from the boy’s body.
    The first thing Roger did was to come up to breathe -and just in time. He rested for a few moments. The octopus hung, inert, below him.
    He hoped he had bitten just hard enough to paralyse the beast. Omo had said that an octopus could be killed this way. When the creature did not move he began to worry.
    He submerged now, gripped one tentacle of the octopus, and drew the limp giant out of the cave. Although it had a tremendous spread it was not heavy, having no bone structure except its beak.
    When his head came out into the sunlight he breathed a mighty sigh of thankfulness. The world had never looked so good. Perhaps Roger was several years older now than he had been half an hour before - older and wiser. He had a better perspective upon life and death.
    He crawled out of the water. He saw the others far down the reef.
    He shouted and they turned to look. When they saw what he lifted out of the water they came running back.
    ‘For heaven’s sake!’ exclaimed Hal. ‘What have you got there? The Old Man of the Sea himself! Is he dead?’
    ‘I hope not,’ Roger said. ‘How can we get him to the ship?’
    ‘Keep him in the water,’ warned Omo. ‘The sun will kill him. I’ll get the dinghy - it’s on the other side of the island.’ While Omo went to bring the boat around, Roger recounted his adventure. Hal’s face went pale and green by turns. Crab’s eyes looked as if they would pop out of his ugly face.
    ‘Well,’ remarked Captain Ike when Roger had finished, ‘you may have a bit o’ mischief in you, but you’ve got some guts too.’
    Omo rowed up with the dinghy. ‘Just sit in the stern and tow him,’ he advised Roger. ‘Keep him under water.’
    They rowed through the pass into the lagoon and to the ship’s side. A line was slipped around the pulpy mass and it was drawn up and plopped into a tank without delay.
    h was far too big for the tank if it chose to extend its arms. Each of those boa-constrictor tentacles was twelve feet long. ‘But he doesn’t need to stretch his arms,’ Omo said. ‘He’s used to living hunched up like a ball.’
    The monster was beginning to show signs of life. A light came into the eyes. Colours began to play across the body. The tentacles began to squirm.
    The mantle swelled. Then the creature shot like a rocket across the tank, coming with a crash against the far wall. It shot in the other direction and encountered another wall.
    Finding itself a prisoner it began to dash about wildly using its four methods of locomotion - for the octopus can walk on its tentacles, slide along on its mouth, swim by waving its arms, or project itself by jet propulsion. It began to chew at its own arms.
    They do that,’ said Captain Ike. ‘Sometimes they eat their own arms off when they’re caught. They’re just so blamed mad they don’t care what they do. Your man won’t want an octopus with no arms.’
    But Omo had already come, tugging the answer, an empty iron barrel. He lowered it into the tank. He laid it on its side, completely under water.
    The octopus immediately rocketed into its dark interior and drew its tentacles in after it.
    ‘On the sea bottom,’ said Omo, ‘they always like a black hole like that. He’ll feel at home there.’

Chapter 8
Hurricane
    Since dawn everyone on board had been irritable and nervy.
    The Lively Lady had left Bikini and was once more sliding ‘downhill’ on her way to Ponape. The wind was fair, the sea was normal, and there was no