“Mightn’t it have been . .. ?” Poplar didn’t finish the question. Ha’apu was shaking his head.
“My eyes, at least, are still young. It was Him. I could not be absolutely certain He was watching me. I doubt it. Faster or slower I did not swim. A sudden change of stroke might have caught His attention. But I was glad when I was in the bottom of my boat, breathing free of the sea.
“I waited and watched for a long time, not daring to leave the small shelter of the reef. Once, far away, I think I saw a fin break the surface. If it was a fin, it was taller than a tall man, Doctor. But it might not have been. It was far away and the sun was dropping.
“I have only been truly afraid, and I say this honestly, a few times in my life. To be alone on the sea with Him was terrible enough. To have been caught there in the dark would have frozen the blood of a god. Then I knew the legend was true.”
“What legend?” asked Poplar.
“Whoever sees Him is forever changed, Doctor. His soul is different, and a little bit of it is stolen away by Him. The rest is altered forever.”
“In what way?” Poplar inquired. Better to humor the old man. He was interested in the damn tooth, not local superstition.
“It depends so much on the man,” the Matai mused. “For myself, the sea will never again be the open friend of my youth. I ride upon it now and look into its
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WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE . ..
depths with hesitation, for any day, any hour, He maybe come for me.
“My people were surprised to see me. They had not expected me to return.”