The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1901-11-30

but question Of minutes.
Yet he still fought gallantly, though
with lungs utterly empty-all the
rushing torrent OF his blood growing
fetld fer lack Of vitalizins air. At
last, with G roar as of cyclone
| through his head, he turned on his
side and yielded to his triumphant
conquerors, who drew off and allowed
him to rise Imply to the now quiet
sea surface For more than an hour
he lay there prone, enduring all the
agony OF his overthrow, and seeing
for before him the long. lonely vista
CT his solitary wanderings. lone
whale driven from his own, and rey-
ermore to rule again.
Meanwhile. the three had departed
in search OF their brother, smitten so
sorely early in the fight that he had
not since Joined them. When they
| found that which had been he. it was
| the centre Of an innumerable host of
hungry things that fed to air or sea
depths at their approach. A glance
revealed the manner of his end "a
broken back-while already, such had
| been the energy OF the sea people. the
great framework of his ribs was partly
laid bare. They made no regrets for
the doing Of useess things finds 20
| place in their scheme of things. Then
the younger said so the question
| OF Overlordship lies between us three,
and | am unwilling that it should
await settlement. | claim the leader
ship and am prepared here and now
to maintain my right" This bold as
serticn had its effect upon the two
hearers, who. after long pause, re-
| piled: 1--WE accept, o king. fully and
| freely until the next battle day ar
! rives, when the succession must be
| maintained by thee in ancient form"
| So the matter was settled and proud
ly. the young monarch set OF to re-
| join the waiting school. Into their
midst he glided with an air Of con-
scious majesty, pausing in the centre
to receive the homage and affection
ate caresses of the harem. No Ques-
| tions were asked as to the wherea-
! bouts Of the deposed sovereign, nor as
to what had become Of the missing
| member of the brotherhood. These are
things that do not disturb the whale
people, who in truth have suflciency
of other matters to occupy their
thoughts besides those inevitable
changes that belc1g to the settled or
| der of things. The recognition COM
plete, the new leader glided out from
the midst of his people, and pointing
| his massive front to the westward
moved off at stately pace, on a
straight course for the coast 2f Japan.
Long, long lay the defeated one,
| rlo.ionless and alcnc. !lis e. crton;
| had been so tremendous that every
vast muscle band seemed strained be-
yond recovery, while the torrent Of
his blood, befouled by his long en-
forced stay beneath the sea. did not
| readily regain its normally healthfui
| flow. But on the second day he
reused himself, and his mighty head
swept the unbroken circle OF the hori-
zon to satisfy himself that he was in
deed at last a lone whale. Ending
| his earnest scrutiny, he milled round
| to the southwark, and with set pur-
pose and steady fuke beat started for
| the Aucklands. On his journey he
passed many school or smaller
pod" of his kind, but in some mys
| terious manner the seal of his lone
| illness was set upon him, so that he
was stunned by ALL In 10 days he
reached his objective, 10 days of fast
ing, and impelled by fierce hunger
he ventured in closely to the cliffs,
where great shoals of fish, many seals.
with an occasional porpoise, came gai-
| ly careering down the wide gaping
| tunnel of his throat into the inner
darkness OF dissolution 1t was good
to be here, pleasant to feel once moro
that unquestioned superiority over all
| things, and swiftly the remembrance
| of his fall faded from the monsters
mind BY day he wandered lazily, en-
| joying the constant easy procession
| of living food down his eyer-opened
]
| in the surf-torn margin of those jagged
| reefs
And thus he came to enjoy the new
phase of existence, until one day he
rose slowly from favorite reef patch
to feel a sharp pang shoot through
his wide flank. Startled into sudden,
violent activity, he plunged madly
around in the confined area of the
cove wherein he lay. in the vain en-
deavor to rid himself of the smart.
But he had been taken at a disadvan-
| tage, for in such shallow waters there
was no room to manoeuyre his vast
bulk, and his wary assailants felt
that in spite of his undoubted vigor
and ferocity he would be an easy
| prey. But suddenly he headed in
stinctively for the open sea at such
tremendous speed that the two boats
attached to him were but as chips
behind. He reached the harbor's
mouth, and bending swiftly sought
the depths. Unfortunately for MIN
a large pinnacle OF rock rose sheer
from the sea bed some hundred faith