The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1901-11-16

wise among the slippery vines, and
when he tried to shove 1t back greai
arm OF the lelp had slipped above the
gunwale. holding 1t tightly like a rub
Der band.
The boat kept sliding end foremost
under water, and Potter's frantic ef-
forts In nowise helped. for he, too
was slowly sinking from the weight
on the fibrous mass. Coville ran to
him. and they grasped the bow Of the
craft and tried to pull it forward. In
stead. they forced themselves nee.
deep into the shiny vegetation. and
had to abandon the effort. They drew
off to safer footing and looked at each
other in perpiexity. The boat remained
two-thirds submerged, locked in the
weeds.
1t all happened so suddenly that the
real gravity of the situation did not
dawn ON them. Potter even burst out
laughing ut the collegian's blank face.
Pull off your ciothes,"' he said.
We'll have to get under the boat and
loosen that root"
1--WE can cut it, suppose" said Co
vile. II have a knife"
The shore. with the high mountains
back of it, seemed so close, with the
still water between: the kelp fields. a
half mile wide, with the open water
beyond. and the sun so bright over all,
were so familiar that the possibility
of danger did not strike them.
81 can swim to shore If it comes to
that" said Potter. "But We'll ges the
beat out in a minute"
He dived under it and worked siren
uously at the vines, thick as a mans
leg, that lay across its thwarts. He
came up for breath, and returned with
Coville's knife. But the tough fibers
resisted, and all the time the mass
sank until the end of the boat was
barely above the surface, and long
streamers of kelp We're beginning to
throw themselves out from the sides
over the diver, as If to hold him down.
Potter came up red-faced and ex-
hausted. Dropped the knife" he
said. shortly. "but there's only one
strand on the boat now. If get that
off she'll come up
But the whole business is sinking"
said Coville. Il thought that the stuff
was going to close over you. Be care
fulr'
Potter went below. Through the
crystal water Coville could mark every
movement Of his hands. Then some
thing like a band of shining white in
the sunlit water swept through the
open place below Coville.
He yelled hastily at his companion,
but Potter, although he did not hear
the shout. saw the danger, and plunged
upward to where his friend grasped
his hand and drew him upon the sink
ing cables of kelp.
"A shark! What big one he was~
cried Potter.
Eyes, I thought he had you; he went
past like a shotr'
That's bad. He wasn't after me,
but all the commotion of the boat
sinking had attracted the brutes. 1
never thought of that. There are
fearfully big ones under the kelp. The
fishermen say it's feeding ground for
them, the cuttlef1sh are so plentiful
here"
The two young men peered fear
fully down through the frOnd-latticed
windows into the depths. Blue, black
and purple sea plants trailed upward.
disturbed by the passage of the shark.
But for the shadows they could have
seen the bottom of the sea. so trans
parent was the still water.
We're in a bad fixr' said Coville.
you'll not dare to swim ashore now,
with those fellows reused; it's mile,
I should say"
Potter looked disconsolate enough.
The sun was setting, the mountains
were purple In the east; the sea birds
called all about them; the sandpipers,
irratatingly impertinent, were running
lightly about on the seaweed floor.
But this was sinking under them.
They drew back and noticed that the
boat was hopelessly entangled. Then
there came a swift swirl of water in
the open spot where it had been. Two
sharks dashed careening about the
basin. They could see the white bod
les flash duly under and around the
boat, charging on the submerged
craft. LED, probably. by the scent OF
the provision under the thwarts.
1--WE can't stand still on this stuff;
it goes down every moment" said Co
vile. Keep moving and watch for
somebody
Potter recovered his shotgun, and
the two men began picking their way
along the kelp. 1t had never occurred
to them before how surprisingly little
of the sea hedge would bear mans
weight. They were constantly sink
ing. and had to be wary of the pools
of clear water on every side. They
saw a smaller shark in one of the in
terstices of the kelp; the keen mon
sters had been drawn from every
point. Looking back the men saw q
wild commotion in the pool about the
sunken boat.
Fighting, probably" said Potter
do you suppose they will follow us
under waterY
1t began to appear as if they would
One of the brutes dashed into open
sight not forty feet away, and when
they neared long open channel
through the weeds, two or three more
were visible, hanging warily in the
water, and seeming to watch the agi
tation of the kelp below the mems
feet.
Down the coast there was no one II
sight. There was no possible escape
except by swimming, and the sea
weeds afforded no resting place.
Two minutes at the most was the
longest time they could stop in one
place; then they would be waist deep