Chapter 12 Twelve man-eating clams

The calm waters glisten in the slanting morning sun.The small boat cut through the sea and rushed towards the island.Blake, Hal, Roger, and Skenk are all on board. Blake had thought about leaving Inkham on the boat, but after thinking about it, he thought it would be better to take him with him because it would be beneficial to monitor him.He suspected the guy, even though there was more evidence against Hal than him. Blake turned off the motor, but did not steer the boat toward the sand.He jumped out of the boat and went into the shallow water and said: Ingram and I search this side, you two go over there by boat.When we're done, we'll cross the island to find you guys.Whistle if you find stolen goods.

Hal didn't like this arrangement, he couldn't leave Blake to his worst enemy.Skenk's threat was engraved on Hal's heart.Didn't he say that Blake would be doomed, and Tasgenk would be master of the Merry Lady, and that if treasure was found, Tasgenk would take it for himself? The guy may be bragging, but maybe not. So Hal suggested: Wouldn't it be better if we were all together? Blake was already wading toward the sand when he turned and asked: Why? Howl said vaguely: It's just an idea.He could not say that he feared that he, the commander, would not be able to defend himself.

We can double as soon as we part, Blake said, come on, Inkham. The boat creaked away, and the noise of the machinery cut through the morning silence and gradually disappeared into the distance.Blake and Skenk walked along the beach, close to the trees, looking carefully for signs of the keel of a ship, or human footprints, or a pile of fire ash, or an empty tin can, or the undergrowth. a trail, or any other sign of recent landfall Palm trees and pandanus cast their slender shadows on the sand.From time to time, coconuts fell with a plop.The trade winds are as invigorating as a cold drink.

The blue sky is cloudless, which can only be seen in the South China Sea or in the desert.It was such a beautiful morning that nothing unpleasant could happen. But Sigenk was playing with bad ideas, and the opportunity was at hand, and half a million dollars was coming.For half a million dollars, what not to do? But how to do it?It would be easiest to slip behind Blake and stab him between the shoulders, but that would cause new problems.Blake is missing, and he, Skenk, will be scolded.If the body was found, the knife would reveal the murderer. Or even kill Hal and Roger together, so that no one will talk too much, but that is too difficult.Hal was tough, experience told him, and Roger was no different than his brother.

They came to the shore of a small bay.Behind the bay, cliffs a few hundred feet high rise from the water. "There's no way they're going to land on the cliff, so we don't have to go up the cliff and go around the bay," Blake said.How about we swim there? Of course, why not? Their undershirts, blue smocks, and canvas sneakers will get wet, but dry quickly. Blake walked to the water's edge: it was high tide, and it was coming fast.But the water is so shallow that I believe we can almost walk through it.let's go! They waded forward.At first, water up to the waist, then to the chest.There was smooth, hard sand underneath, and the high tide beat against their bodies, and they had to lean towards the sea to resist the force.

Skenk bumped into something big and hard all at once.He thought it was a stone, but when he looked down, he found it was a giant clam.Its shell had just snapped shut, nearly biting his fingers. He was about to tell Blake just now, when he suddenly had an idea and thought it would be better not to say anything.A new plan took shape.When the Happy Lady first approached the island, they noticed a lot of giant clams in the shallow water.The shells of these things are six feet wide and weigh eight hundred pounds.They lie right under the beach with their big mouths always open.No matter what, as long as it passes through the mouth, it will be firmly bitten immediately.This giant clam is not necessarily particularly interested in human flesh, but how many swimmers have been caught by its terrifying clamps, so it has become a veritable man-eating clam.

The water is getting deeper and you have to swim.Sigenk snatched ahead of Blake and kept an eye on the bottom of the beach while swimming. Just when he was disappointed, he suddenly saw a big giant clam in front of him. Skink swam cautiously, then stopped, blocking Blake's path: Take a rest.He said.Blake also stopped and used his feet to explore the bottom of the beach. In an instant, Blake yelled, his face changed greatly in pain, shark!It bit my foot.He drew his knife, buried his head in the water, and immediately came up again and said: It's not a shark, it's a devil clam. Now the water was up to his chin.The tide is rising.After a few minutes, seven to ten minutes at the most, his mouth and nose would be submerged.Now is the time when he is in pain, yet his voice is calm.

Listen, Skink, I'll tell you what to do.It is too heavy to lift.It is impossible to cut it from the bottom, the only feasible way is to go in and cut off its hinge. ．It's a daunting task, isn't it? There was something in Skenk's voice that offended Blake. Yes, it was hard, but it was the only way to do it.Cut off the edge of the shell to make an opening for your hand to enter.Then go in, to the bottom, and cut off its adductor muscle. Skink hesitated.To let the fool know his end is at hand?Or continue to let him hold on to hope?Let him fantasize!Revenge was a real pleasure, and he wanted to enjoy it as much as possible.

He drew his knife, dived, pretended to be cutting the shell of a giant clam, and held it in for nearly two minutes. When he came out, the water rose less than half an inch, reaching Blake's chin. Come out for a change of breath.he explained. Of course. Blake waited patiently.Only from his distorted face could one see how much pain he was suffering.Skenk would have liked to hear him swearing, pissed off, crying, maddened with terror and pain. Blake's composure disappointed him. Hey, said Blake, are you not ready to go down? alright. Sigenk went down and dawdled for a full three minutes before he could no longer hold his breath before reappearing.

He gasped for breath for a while, and then said: Sorry, I can't dig a hole there. Blake's mouth was almost under the water, but he still struggled to say: It doesn't matter, you did your best.Now there is another way: cut off my feet. Even the villain Skink recoils from such a suggestion: I can't do this.He is telling the truth. The poor thing, Blake thought, can't blame him, he's a coward.So I said, I'll do it myself.He drew his knife and sank into the water. Sigenk couldn't control himself, trembling all over.He felt that he, too, would be clamped and drowned with his enemy.He swam ashore and stood trembling on the sand, not daring to look back.

Finally when he looked back, he saw nothing.He opened his eyes wide and saw nothing for five minutes.The tide had begun to wash against his feet. He turned and walked in confusion on the sand the way they had come. He didn't intend to do that.Is he going to?do what?He actually did nothing.Who is to blame for that big fool who recklessly stepped into an underwater trap?Only himself to blame. A complete fool!Until the last moment of his life, he firmly believed that Sigenke would help him.That Blake, he was too gullible in human nature.Sigenk wanted to laugh a few times, but couldn't.He had a feeling that he was too inferior.It was a strange feeling for him.He should be overjoyed that his enemy is out and the half a million dollars is like his own.Why is his mouth as dry and tasteless as if he had smoked a lot? Skink circles the island until he finally runs into Hal and Roger.He fell to the ground in extreme fatigue, he had a headache, he was tense, and his pulse beat like a school of small fish. where is blakeHal asked. He went the other way.I thought he would be here by this time, too. Hal examined him carefully: You look exhausted, what happened? It's okay, I get too much sun. There is shade under the bread tree over there.We have already seen this side, and we are going to go in and look at the shore of the lagoon.When Blake comes, just call. Hal and Roger searched under the bushes leading to the lagoon, among the berry bushes, lantanas, sago palms, palms and pandanus.Their eyes were wide open, but they could see no more than a few feet into the jungle on either side. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," Hal said. "We don't even have a million to one chance." Why do you think things must be here?Roger was sick of the fringes of these thorny thorns, which were like palm-leaf needles. It's just that I don't think they have anything else to use.If there were boats around, we would have seen them.But whatever the method, these smugglers must have been watching us.Once we found the location of the wreck, it was much easier for them, they took as much loot as they could without breaking a sweat, hid it on the island, and as soon as we left, they set up a boat to take it away. They came out of the jungle and came to the lagoon.The lagoon, surrounded by beautiful sandy beaches, is now almost submerged by high tide.In many places, there was no way between the water and the roots, so they had to wade, which was much slower. Thinking maybe Blake had passed the road, they searched for him on the flooded sand.But soon gave up.Even if there were footprints, the high tide washed them away long ago. They circled the lagoon for a full hour.After another hour, we met up with Skenk under the bread tree. They were surprised not to see Blake. Hal was worried: it was strange, he should have been here long ago, something must have happened. What will happen?Sigenk sneered. I don't know, maybe I sprained my ankle. No other word could have shocked Sgenke more.With Blake's ankle caught in the mouth of the giant clam and Blake's futility of trying to cut off his own foot, Skenk couldn't help shaking before his eyes. Hal stared at Sigenk.He noticed that Skenk's hands were shaking, his face was flushed, and his eyes glowed wildly.This doesn't happen just by walking around in the sun.Hal became suspicious.He bent down suddenly, and pulled Skenk's knife out of the scabbard at once. What on earth are you trying to do?Sigenk complained. Check out this knife. Oh, of course, said Skink indifferently, but you can ask me, can't you? Hal examined it closely.Of course, Skenk could have been washed, but maybe there was blood on the bevel of the blade, in the veins of the handle.He searched carefully, but finding nothing, threw the knife back to Skenk. In case I ever find out there's any fraud in this," said Hal sharply. Oh, don't act like that, Hunter, Skenk interrupted him, stood up, and started to go to the boat. If you really want to find Blake, why don't you get in the boat at once, and stand up. Are you making a fool of yourself here? This move surprised Hal.Skink, who had seemed reluctant to go to Blake, was now leading the way. As for the criminal Sigenk, he had just thought of this: It is better to disclose Blake's fate than to hide it.If Blake's body was not found, they would always assume that Skenk had killed him. Now a new fear tormented him.They have to hurry, hurry.What if the giant clam let go?The tide washed away the body, what should I do?That would be bad for Skink, who wouldn't be able to prove that Blake wasn't killed by his violence. They sat in a small boat, approaching the coast, and circled the island.From time to time, they stopped the engine and called for Blake, but no one answered. When they reached Calamity's Bay, Skenk's mind was in turmoil.How could he lead them to that spot without seeing that he was taking them?If he's working the tiller, it's easy.But Hal was sitting in the stern, still cruising the coast. Skink said: Use your brains, Hunter.He will not climb up that mountain and come down, he will swim across. Hal insisted on not changing direction: there might be a wide beach at the base of the cliff for him to wander around. But when he came to the foot of the cliff, he found that the water was very deep.Even at low tide, it is impossible to have a beach.Skenk was right, Blake would have swum it.Maybe he drowned on the way.It is puzzling why a swimmer as good as Blake should drown.Unless it was an atrocity directed by Si Genke. He steered the boat to a spot most suitable for the crossing, whereupon he cut off the engine and told Roger to row the dinghy slowly. Despite the lack of evidence on Skenk's blade, Hal is somewhat convinced that Blake's drowned body will be found with a knife wound between his shoulders. He pulled a mask from the storage box, put it on, and put his head in the water.He could see everything underwater clearly. The boat passes over a giant clam, its jaws open.Then, ahead, he vaguely saw another giant clam with something in its jaws, probably a large fish.Getting closer, he saw clearly what that thing was, and his heart sank suddenly. Stop, he said to Roger, found him. He dived and drove the knife through the slightly parted edge of the shell until he made a hole through which he could thrust his arm.Then reach in and drive the knife into that huge adductor muscle.The big shell opened. Hal lifted Blake's limp body to the surface, and the other two helped pull him into the boat. Hal followed into the boat and took off Blake's wet shirt.Blake's chest and back were intact, but there was a deep scar on his ankle, and Hal thought he understood what was going on. He was bitten by a giant clam while crossing.He wanted to cut off the foot, but the knife was not handy.Before he could cut off his foot, the tide came up and drowned him. One thing is clear as a mirror.Blake's death was an accident.Skink was innocent, and for all his braggadocio and dastardly tricks, he wasn't a murderer.Hal took some comfort in the fact that he never wanted to think too badly of Skenk. The three of them sat in silence, each thinking about his own unpleasant thoughts.The dinghy sailed toward the sailboat with its dejected passengers.