第9章 Final Fight[第2页/共7页]

“Don't be silly,”he said aloud.“And keep awake and steer.You may have much luck yet.”

I could not expect to kill them,he thought.I could have in my time.But I have hurt them both badly and neither one can feel very good.If I could have used a bat with two hands I could have killed the first one surely.Even now,he thought.

“You're tired,old man,”he said.“ You're tired inside.”

He did not want to look at the fish.He knew that half of him had been destroyed.The sun had gone down while he had been in the fight with the shark.

But by midnight he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless.They came in a pack and he could only see the lines in the water that their fins made and their phosphorescence as they threw themselves on the fish.He clubbed at heads and heard the jaws chop and the shaking of the skiff as they took hold below.He clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone.

The old man watched for him to come again but neither shark showed.Then he saw one on the surface swimming in circles.He did not see the fin of the other.