| Show life UNDER SEA pretty coed co ed battles deadly si Six ifo Foot barracuda six fathoms below surface hace j 40 M 2 catl As she stumbled into a hole her spear was thrust upward into the mouth of the barracuda and lie he immediately made oft with the weapon Im bedded in lits his throat dy by WILLIAM IVILLIA 31 HORNE for I 1 saw that finny goblin goblitt flying in the abyss and I 1 knew there could be laughter on the lite hidden face oj of god cod HUS G K chesterton rhymes 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 bizarre and so unbelievably grotesque that they seem like cosmic jokes tossed off of in some idle moment of creation by a deity that knows how to chuckle grimly but not only inthe in the phosphorescent waters of the south seas do these guardians of the deep haunt tropic waters As near as the florida keys we find many species of undersea creatures just as ferocious as any octopus or conger fel eel or south sea shark and indeed more dangerous to man than either of them the barracuda meet the barracuda of all inhabitants of north americas tropical waters this fellow is the worst he is if we might say the pike of warm salt waters bui but nasty tempered deadly since he ionie sometimes times 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 resort strange but the barracuda of tile the pacific coast is not nearly so voracious or so pugnacious as the florida species nor does he grow so large the latter is indeed a fearful antagonist tag onist when encountered and more than one instance has been rec recorded corded when fishermen bathers and divers have lost losi their lives lived to these bloodthirsty killers among the Florida keys and on up the coast past miami it has become quite a fad to study marine life with the aid of portable compact diving apparatus i S school hool for divers scientists and students of marine life have organized special classes for or the purpose professor charles farris has such a school at miami it is equipped with a dozen or more lightweight diving apparatuses and a sixteen foot launch fifteen coeds are enrolled on his books for a course of six months this course consists of two submersions weekly for each student the classes divided seven in one and eight in the other so far there have been none to suffer as victims of accidents excepting a student by the name c of f myrlin defore whose home Is in cincinnati miss defore before who was spending some months in miami with an aunt enrolled in the marine school for a course in undersea study it was a lark she declared illas well as educational that is lit lt was a lark until that day the barracuda attacked me and heres how it happened it was 10 in the morning the class was visiting just oil off key west to study some new plant life that had been discovered there not a cloud marred Flo sky and the rays of the morning sun shone perfectly through the crystal clear waters an ideal day for or underwater observations down into the deep miss defore was a few minutes late getting into her diving gear professor fro fessor farris had already gone overboard with his brood of sevens young women to the classroom on the ahe oceans floor six fathoms beneath the launch when the tardy student donned her equipment and stepped boldly down the rope ladder that dangled in the water from the low rail her equipment merely consisted of a one piece bathini bathing ailt a pair of leaded sole tennis slippers a lightweight diving helmet a sheathed knife fastened onto a light web belt and a pointed bamboo spear five feet long miss defore stepped down ladder ns as the tender aboard the tha launch began pumping oxygen into her helmet the surface surf aci closed about the tiny windows on tier ner head gear and am she was lowered to th bottom 1 I could easily see tor for twenty oz 01 thirty feet in either direction foi the water was exceptionally clear she says and I 1 was instantly iri in by the myriad colors ot at plant life all about me par far to the left I 1 could see professor farris and the th group of girls they wera grouped grouped about something or other and I 1 tell if they had dis covered 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 at me and I 1 had no trouble in making my way toward the class I 1 started in 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 grew in abundance 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 for ive never liked snakes of any kind out of water or in the water it was just as I 1 now turned and started to resume my way toward professor farris that I 1 first had a warning of the nearness of danger A dark streaking shadow flashed near me I 1 could feel the tug ol of water against me by the movement of something I 1 turned to look behind me and I 1 think I 1 screamed at what I 1 saw it was a six 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 fast and like a hideous dream trying to run from a goblin with a pair of anvils for shoes that dragged my feedback 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 finds fish are citing biting 1 I never did fully regain my met feet after I 1 stumbled in a big hole hold before the barracuda attacked mg me again I 1 was half leaning on my spear point upward when I 1 chanced to glance back and up thrown my helmet port two rows of sharp jagged teeth in an at 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 from which I 1 fully escaped 1 I tell fell back slowly like a man in slow motion movie and that barracuda was as swift as lightning compared to my movements before I 1 felt the stubble of growth at my back as I 1 sank down on bottom the thing was making on off in the tha other direction turning over and ove ovar r fand and the shaft of my spear was sticking out from its mouth itz in some manner I 1 mus raised my spear unconsciously as it attacked and I 1 guess the open mouth was so big J I 1 miss it 11 with the spear point it had dived right onto the point poin tand and rammed it down its throat that was a lucky jab for me As far as I 1 could see seq it writhed in agony the bamboo shaft sticking from its mouth and blood streaked behind it and clouded tho the water I 1 next thing 1 knew professor i farris was leaning over me and helping roe to my feet he signaled with the fineto line to haul us up and moi tinned to the rest of the girls to follow classes were through for the day and for every other day so tar far as im concerned ill get ge I 1 mine from books hereafter 0 bell syndicate service |
