The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1885-11-06

The Dreadful Thing That Happened Tn
der the Sea-


ssAh me-" said the sponge "Dear.
dear. dear! well-a-day''
What i the malter," asked tine
bath-tub. Have you been squeezed
too hard. or has the nurse rubbed soap
on you again, know soap never
agrees with you
II am rather exhausted BY the
squeezing. confess" replied the
sponge; ''but it is not for that sighed
! am gradually getting used 70 these
daily fortunes.
''But l was thinking about the past;
about my beautiful home. from which 1
was 50 cruelty torn. and about the
happy happy life led there
Tell me about il. said the bath
tub. You have told me before. but
always find il interesting. My home
was in tin-shop. as you are aware
The society was good. but it was rather
. dull place. on the whole. You lived.
you say
'-On the coast Of Syria" said the
sponge, with a sigh-s.the coast Of
beautiful Syria There l. tiny BAY.
where the shore is bold and rocky. The
rocks are above the water. but down
below they are covered with lovely
plants. ard fringed with gay MOSES.
beautiful 10 behold The bottom Of the
sea Is covered with silver sand. and
over il move the crimson and gold-col-
orcd jelly-fsh. the scarlet star-fish. and
; thousand other brilliant creatures.
making the neighborhood always at
tractiye and delightful On a certain
ledge Of rock. close by the bottom. !
lived. As happy an animal a could b
found in the Mediterranean Sea"
What do you mean?" interrupted
the nail-brush. which was new. and
very ignorant .sYou. an ANIMAL
don't believe il. II your back were
bone. and your hsir pig-bristles. like
mine you might at least call yourself
an ANIMAL product; but You have no
back that | can see. nor hair either"
You are extremely rude said the
sponge .-But you know no better. and
ignorance should always BE- pi;i-d rath-
er than blamed. was an animal. my
young friend. though now. alas. am
only the skeleton OF one
II lived. as said. very happy life
on my rocky ledge. never moved
from it l had no occas on to do 50.
even il ! had been provided with legs.
as many animal ara never had any
fancy for rowing life. To draw in the
warm delicious water through the thou
sand small holes and canals oil my
frame. and spout II out again through
INV large holes. was ms chief occupa-
ton. and one OF which | was never
weary. The water was full Of Tiny
creatures Of all kinds. and these formed
my food. and gave me plenty to eat
In the spring l was always busy with
my maternal duties 1 brought out
hundreds OF lovely little young eggs.
yellow and whitc-t,ie prettiest eggs
you ever saw. In . short time they put
out their tiny feelers. . sort Of fringe Of
waving lashes, like those things on the
nurse eyes; as soon rs they appeared
knew my babies were ready 70 come
out. and sure enough. they soon broke
through the egg-covering. and waving
their lashcs. SWAN out into the sea-
AT first they staid near me. de-
lighting my heart VITA their pretty
tricks; but very soon they felt the need
Of homes Of their own. and went OF 10
fix themselves on rocks. or coral-trees.
and become, in their turn. full-grown
spoages. like myself. ! could not com
plain. for had left my own mother in
the same way. never saw any Of them
again. except one dear child. who made
his home on the shell Of . large crab.
He grew finely; and became a noble
sponge; but the crab never seemed to
mind him in the least. and carried him
about with him wherever he went In
this way he often passed near my ledge.
and IS the crab was a friendly and sem
sible fellow we often had . pleasant
chat together.
'-One day. one dreadful. dreadful
day. was talking thus with my SON
and his landlord. when suddenly some
thing huge and dark was seen above US,
swimming slowly downward through
the clear water. At first ! paid no at
tention TO il. surprising il 20 be . shark.
or some other large tsh; but as il drew
nearer saw that II was no fish. but q
strange and horrible monster. the like
Of which mad never been seen under
the sea. II had four long arms. some
thing like those Of . cuttlc-fish. only
much less graceful. and divided at the
end into i've claws. or feelers Il have
since learned that two Of these arms
are called legs. and that the feelcrs are
fingers and toes.) II had cleaning
eyes. and in one claw il held some
thing bright and shining. All. il makes
mo cold TO think Of IL To my horror
the monster fixed his shining eyes
on me. and swan directly toward my
ledge. The crab scuttled on with my
son on his back, and was left alone
and helpless. saw one Of the long
arms extended; che five feciers clutched
me in their grasp. ! shrank down. and
chung with al my might 70 tie rock;
but in vain. The shining thing in the
monsters other claw was slipped un-
der me. II cut my delicate iibers.
felt them give way one BY one; and Il
last. with one terrible cut and . violent
wrench. ! was torn from my peaceful
home; torn from II, alas, forever
~ was thrown into . bag fun d
other sppnges. which the monster had
alssv,r nhrxtf Nj ss,.ll1. ara 4kam ~