The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-04-27

whose tentacles must have had reacl
of six or seven feet from tip to tip. Al
the shadow of my boat fell on him he hid
himself behind q mass of inky fluid
drawing hist body and arms up into
compact ball.
Still no ''lobo" and at last 1 decided
he was a myth.
One morning l rowed around the point
a half mile beyond the house and anchor
! ed to a tiny coral reef that rose 20 about
| twelve inches below the surface quarter
! of a mile from shore From thense l cas-
my line and watched the baited hook sinh
slowly through the clear water. This was
my favorite fishing ground. Yet today
cast for a solid hour without getting a
single bite.
The tide meantime was running out. Al
last my rock rose above the surface OF
the water. l decided to row home. on
| pulling up til anchor, however, 1 found
| one of the hukes was entangled in a jut
! ting bit of rock q foot or two below the
surface. / could not reach it, so l stepped
cut Of the boat on the rock and plunged
my hands into the water disentansling the
/ anchor and lifted il back into the boat.
| y light breeze was blowing, and as ] was
! wiping the water from my hands l did
not notice that the boat was slowly drift
I ing away
! BY the time / turned to step aboard 1t
was at least ten feet distant l watched il
reccde with more amusement, than cha
grin. ! had longed for chance to swim,
yet / had not wished to go counter to my
Q I, os,-
like these he surely could not object TO
my rescuing his boat before the tide bore
it off to sea.
! disrobed quickly and laid my clothes
o nthe rock, meaning to swim to the boat,
climb aboard and then row back for my
garments
At last l was ready. The boat was near
~ a hundred yards away by this time
Keeling in the prospects Of a plunge in
those cool waters on so warm day l
drew in deep breath and dived off the
reef. Down. down, L went, far below the
surface, until ] had almost descended to
the coral sands that carpeted the bottom
of the bay. Then l struck out. swimming
under the water in the direction ! knew
my boat had taken. 1t was a delicious
crystal clear water. to have made myself
part Of that marvellous submarine world.
On and on l swan. At last | looked up,
for a large oblong shadow lay athwart
the glittering white sands, almost direct
ly above me.
4 must have swum farther than l i'm
agined." thought 1. ito have reached my
boat by this time
The next moment I felt as though the
waters about me had turned to ice.
For it was no boat that swung idly
above me, but an enormous fish,
I can shut my eyes and see it now-the
white underside. the tremendous expanse
from the snubbed oval head to the family
quivering tail. And it turns me half sick
to recall it.
1t was undoubtedly eel lobo." had
seen enough of sharks to know their I'M
mistakable shape. And this fish was a
shark but far larger than any other shark
had ever seen.
/ did lifetime Of thinking in the next
ten seconds. 1t had not seen me. for it
was facing in the same direction as l,
and / was not yet quite up to il.
! had a general idea where the boat
should be, and 1 swan for it with all my
still keeping close to the bottom
of the bay, and making a detour to avoid
the sharks eye.
1 swan hard, putting into every stroke
all the power and speed of which 1 was
the master My heart throbbed like a trip
hammer. and I could feel the blood bang
ing against my temples. Moreover, it
was growing mometnarly harder TO keep
from breathing. My lungs ached and
burned and my chest seemed bursting
Still l swan on, not daring to rise to the
surface until l should be far out of the
sharks line of vision
Finally l looked UP once more. 4 short
distance ahead of me | could see the
shadow cast by my boat. But, the same
instant, my blood turned cold again. For,
still almost directly above me, hung the
shark.
That he had not seen me, 1 was sure.
AT first 1 fancied 1 had made no real |
progress at all, but was still where l had |
first seen the monster. Then the truth |
1awned on me. The shark had seen the |
boat and was creeping gradually up to /
it. perhaps in the hope that someone |
might fall overheard; perhaps merely for /
such food as a fisherman might toss into /
the sea from his lunch basket. He and |
had been swimming at the same rate /
IF speed toward the same object.
/ wa<nO more secure from him than i !
had been before And my lungs were |
paining me horribly. Perhaps he had /
Offered thus about my hosts boat the |
line the luckless Andrea fell overheard |
With a last effort / took a half dozen .
rapid strokes forward that brought me
under the boat and yard or two be-
7ond it Then. driving my feet into the
;and and putting al my remaining
strength into the movement, 1 spranG
upward toward the surface.
Before l reached the upper air the
shark saw me. The shadow OF the boat
luckily, yelled me until l was nearly
It the top; otherwise l might not now
,e writing this.
He rushed forward. displacing the wa
er and rocking the boat. That was
ny last submarine view of him. for the
text instant my head was above water
drew in a big breath and swan for the
,oat which was barely six feet away. I
plashed as hard as l could churning up
he water in hopes of frightening the
Monster. He reached the spot where l
lad risen. then wheeled again for me.
vas hauling myself over the bunwale
f the boat as ne struck
felt something brush my foot the boat
vh.rled sideways from a sudden jar. and
e had wheeled once more TO the attack
his time however. l was already over
he gunwale and lying painting and ex-
austed in the bottom Of the boat.
l had missed death in a horrible form