The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-10-25

thither over their fragile meadoWsi |
hundreds OF them, feeding on the
d)atlng insect larvae, fish roe, the
jellyash fragments and winged nauti-
lus on the small channels between the
kelp They diyed freely In pursuit Of
their food, but, like the elder pipers
could not swim.
The hunters had stumbled squarely
into the sea nursery; hundreds Of the
birds were about them, old and young.
Coyille found nest after nest In the
dried grassy tops above the water
where the babies and eggs swung in
delicate cradles over the deep. In
tent on his search he was scrambling
in the seaweed, caring nothing for his
immersion every moment when the
vines let him through. Potter was
struggling with the boat, trying to
draw it over a mass Of cable-like
plants. Under water the vegetation
was ylscid and treacherous. Potter
had taken his shotgun out and laid 1t
on a hummock. He was outside the
boat trying to lift 1t above the mass
| o. stuff.
Then Coville heard him shout. While
he was trying to depress the stern Of
the boat, his weight had forced 1t sud
denly under water; It shot down side
wise among the slippery vines, and
when he tried to shove 1t back a great
arm of the kelp 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 eff
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 1t forward. In
stead, they forced themselves neci
deep into the Shiny vegetation, and
had to abandon the effort They drew
off to safer footing and looked at each
other In perplexlty. 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 Mt the collegian's blank face
Pull off your Clothes" he said.
Wen have to get under the boat and
loosen that root"
I'VE can cut It, suppose" said Co
Vile. II have a knife"
The shore, with the high mountains
back of 1t, 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.
II can swim to shore If it comes to
that" said Potter. "But Wen get the
boat out in a minute"
He dlved under it and worked siren
uously at the vines, thick as q mans
leg, that lay across It's thwarts. He
came up for breath, and returned with
Coville's knife. But the tough flbers
, resisted, and all the time the mass
sank until the end of the boat was
barely above the surface, and long
streamers of kelp were beginning tC
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
Q strand ON the boat now. If get tha
: off she'll come up"
! ''But the whole business is sinkingp
said Coville. II thought that the stuff
= was going to close over you. Be care
p fulw
h Potter went below. Through til,
T crystal water Coville could mark ever!
v movement of his hands. Then some
thing like a band of shining white II
q the suNlit water swept through tn
a open place below COville.
+ He yelled hastily at his companion
q but Potter, although he did not hea
q the shout, saw the danger, and plunge,
!. upward TO where his friend grasper
his hand and drew him upon the sink
ing cables Of kelp.
q "A shark! What big one he was!
&C cried Potter.
q eyes, thought he had you; he wen
q past like a shotv'
) That's bad. He wasn't after ms
y but all the commotion of the boa
sinking had attracted the brutes.
= never thought of that. There ar
% fearfully big ones under the kelp. Th
% fishermen say it's feeding ground fc
n them, the cuttlefsh are so plentlfl
- here
IN The two young men peered fea,
d. fully down through the frond-lattice
d windows into the depths. Blue, blac