The voluble Ewing, who was within earshot, offered his services.
"The remora, Madame, is the fabulous creature which used to cling to the ships of our forbears, and drag them backwards with all sails set. At the high school of Paisley they used to teach me that the remora, fastening its sucker upon the galley of Marcus Antoninus, prevented him from bringing succour to his Queen Cleopatra." The pun when first uttered was accidental, but Ewing, unhappily perceiving that he had achieved a play on words, repeated the offence deliberately, which was beyond pardon.
"Your will obsairve, Madame," remarked he, "that I am a man of wut."
"Alexander," said Madame, "if I have any more of your wut I shall send for my gun. From your description it would appear that the remora is rather a formidable pet."
"That is so. The galley of Marcus Antoninus was pulled by the remora against the efforts of a hundred rowers."
"Whew!" whistled Madame. "One might as well go a-fishing with a Kraken."
"But, Madame," broke in Ching. "A remora is not often more than two feet long. It is a powerful beast for its size."
"So it would appear. My brain whirls. A fish two feet long which can pull a galley against a hundred rowers must be of considerable horsepower. And yet Willie's boy has tethered it to a stone. It is true that he has not revealed the size of the stone--it must be as big as yonder mountain."
"No," said Ching, "_Echeneis Remora_ is a well-known fish."
"Willie," appealed Madame in despair. "Lead me to your captive. These experts will drive me frantic."
Willatopy led her about a hundred yards, and showed to her a fish, less than two feet long, wriggling about in a shallow pool. A string had been fastened near its forked tail, and the stone, which held it captive, weighed some five pounds. Willie pointed to the curious, palpitating organ, some five inches long, upon the shoulders of the fish by means of which it could adhere by suction to a turtle or to a boat. Hence the name "sucker."
"Is it?" said Ewing sourly. "That wee bit thing a remora? Then all I can say is that our ancestors and our historians are damned liars."
"Your criticism is not new, Sandy," observed Madame. "In the unkind light of positive evidence, tradition and history have a way of crumpling up. How do you use the beast, Willie?"