| Show ilife struggle UNDER SEA SE A pretty coed co ed battles deadly six foot fool barracuda six fathoms below surf surface ace t javo P as As ai the h stumbled into a hole her spear was thrust upward into the ho month of et the he barracuda and he immediately made off with he fie u weapon capon Im bedded to kit kl threat by WILLIAM for I 1 wt aw that finny filding in tile ti abyss by unfred and ni I 1 knew anao there could be b laughter taugh ter on M at hidden face of 01 god HUS G K chesterton THUS rhymes r about a fish he had seen at sea by night and there are creatures much queerer than anything imaginable in our land world creatures so ao bizarre and ao unbelievably grotesque that they seem like cosmic jokes tossed off in some idle moment of creation by a deity that knows how to chuckle grimly but not only in the phosphorescent waters of the south seas seal do these guardians of the deep haunt tropic waters As af near as ai the florida keys we find fin many species of undersea creatures creature just as ai ferocious as aa any octopus or conger confer eel or south sea hark and indeed more dangerous to man than either of them biem the barracuda meet ur the barracuda of all ali inhabitants of 1 north americas acas tropical waters this fellow is the th worst he ti Is we might say 1 the alk pike of warm sit salt waters but nasty tempered deadly I 1 since he h sometimes reaches the unbelievable length of 8 feet we can readily imagine the havoc he would cause should he suddenly choose to run amuck among the hundreds of bathers at a crowded retort resort strange but the barracuda of the pacific coat coast Is ignot not nearly so voracious or so 0 o pugnacious pugna cloua as the florida species pe cle nor does he grow so large irge the latter is 1 indred indeed a tearful fearful antagonist tag onist when encountered and more than uve une instance ha has been recorded when fishermen bathers and divers have lost their lives to those these bloodthirsty killers the florida keys and on up the coast past miami it has become quite a lad to stud marine life with the aid of portable compact diving apparatus school for or divin scientists scientist and nd students of marine life ilia have organized special pedal classes for the th purpose professor charles farrl hav haa such luch a chool 0 t miami it Is equipped with a dozen doxon or mor lightweight diving apparatus appa ratum and ft a sixteen toot launch fifteen coeds are on rolled oti on his hl books or A course ot 0 six months this course coun oon con stat slats of two submersions weekly weedy for or each itu dent that th clashes divided seven even 1 in one and bight in the th other so far there have hven been none to suffer as victim olof accidents excepting hepting a student by the name of myrun myrlin defore defor hose home is 13 in cincinnati elsif defore who was spending some months in miami with an aunt enrolled in the marine school tor for a course in undersea study it was a lark slit she declared as well as educational that Is it was a lark until that day the barracuda attacked rne me and heres how bow it happened it was wa ID 10 in the morning tho the class was visiting just on off key west to study some new plant life that had been discovered there not a cloud marred Flo sky and the th raya ot of the morning sun shone perfectly through the crystal clear waters vaters an ideal day tor for underwater observations down into finto the deep miss delure was a few minutes late getting into hurl her diving gear professor karrs had already gone over overboard buard with his brood ot of seven young youna women tu lu the classroom on the oceans ocean noor floor six fathoms beneath the launch launah when the tardy student donned her equipment and topped boldly down the rope ladder that dangled in the water from the low rail iler her equipment merely consisted of a one piece bathing tilt alt a pair of leada sole sol tennis slippers a lightweight lightweiS ht doying helmet a sheathed knife fastened cd aae i a uga acm web belt and a pointed bamboo spear five feet long miss defore stepped down the ladder as the tender aboard the launch began pumping oxygen into her helmet the surface closed about the tiny windows on her headgear and she was lowered to the bottom 1 I could easily see sec for twenty or thirty feet in either cither direction for the tha water was exceptionally clear she ho says and I 1 was instantly in by tho the myriad colors of plant lua life all about me far to the left I 1 could see professor farris and the group of girls they wore were grouped about so something methin g or other and I 1 tell it if they had discovered me or not taken by surprise 1 I was let slowly on down and suddenly felt my feet touch bottom there was a very little current to tug tue at me and I 1 had no trouble in making my way toward the class I 1 started in their direction carefully picking my way among the jutting plants that seemed to sway and nod gently as I 1 passed through the thick sea weed that grow in ab aban un dance and past clumps of beautiful coral like formations and patches of living sponge once a beautiful sea snake wriggled slowly toward me curiosity I 1 suppose I 1 drew back in alarm tor for ive never liked snakes snake of any kind out of water or in tile the water wi cr it was just as I 1 now turned and started to resume my way toward professor farris that I 1 farst had a warning ot of the nearness of danger A dark streaking shadow flashed near me I 1 could feel eel the tug ol of water against me by the movement ol of something I 1 turned to look lock be hind me and I 1 think I 1 screamed at 1 what I 1 saw it was a six toot foot barracuda and when I 1 first saw it the thing was just passing me like a long black swiftly moving shadow 1 I was terror stricken trying to move last and c ulan like a hideous dream trying to run from a goblin with a pair ot of anvils for or shoes that dragg dragged edmy my feet back the way water holds you back under the surface even at a shallow distance down and I 1 was at six fathoms which Is thirty six feet remember rinds finds fish are biting 1 I never did fully regain my act feet atler I 1 tumbled stumbled in a big hole before the barracuda attacked me again I 1 ads wa halt hall leaning on my spear point upward when I 1 chanced to glance back and up through my helmet port part two rows of sharp jagged teeth lit 44 an open mouth ten inches across and coming right toward me I 1 dont remember raising my spear all I 1 do remember clearly Is that within a moment after I 1 saw the thing coming it was there almost at my face I 1 felt the spear shaft jerked from my hands and again I 1 stumbled into the hole froni from which I 1 fully escaped 1 I tell fell bock back slowly like a man in ablow a slow motion movie and that barracuda was as swift as lightning compared to my movements detore delore I 1 felt fell the stubble of growth at my back as I 1 sank down on bottom the thing was making off DIT in the other direction turning over and over and the shaft of my spear was s ticking sticking out from its mouth in some manner I 1 must have raised my spear unconsciously as it attacked and I 1 guess the open mouth was so big I 1 miss it with the spear point it had dived right onto the point and rammed it down its throat that was a lucky jab for me As far as I 1 could see it writhed in agony the bamboo shaft sticking from its mouth and blood streaked d behind it and clouded the water next thing I 1 knew r bor farris was leaning over in me C and 1 nd helping me to my feet ile he signa signaled lerl with ith the line to haul us up and mo troied to the rest of the girls to follow classes were through for the day and for every other day so BO tar far as im concerned ill get gel mine from books hereafter 0 beu beli syndicate Sery lc |
