Instinctively he looked up, and as he did so he could not
repress a start of horror. Tom, too, as well as Koku, saw the
menacing shadow. Ned grasped more tightly his sharp, steel bar
and spoke through the telephone to his companions.
"Devil fish!" he said. "The devil fish are after us."
CHAPTER XXI
A WAR REMINDER
To a large number of people the name devil fish brings to mind
a conception of an octopus, squid, cuttle fish, or a member of
that species. This is, however, a mistake.
The true devil fish of the tropics is a member of the sting ray
family, and the common name it bears is given to it because of
two prongs, or horns, which project just in front of its mouth.
His Satanic Majesty is popularly supposed to have horns, together
with a tail, hoofs and other appendages, and the horns of this
sting ray fish are what give it the name it bears.
The devil fish, some specimens of which grow to the weight of a
ton and measure fifteen feet from wing tip to wing tip, are armed
with a long tail, terminating in a tough, horny substance, like
many of the ray family members.
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