The San Francisco call., 1908-03-01

mergence the big shark in some man
ner nosed his way in and was left cap
tive when the water subsided. The wa
ter of the pen was murky from the ac-
tion of the tide on the bottom. but
there was nothing in its dull translu-
cence to awaken suspicion in the minds
of the half dozen officers who. hot and
dusty from 20 mile ride into the in
terror. were preparing for dip. The
commander In question: man noted
for his nervous haste in doing things
was well ahead OF the others In strip
ping for his plunge. circumstance
which was entirely responsible for his
having had to bear alone the shock OF
the discovery that the pen was already
occupied. With a snort of contempt
for the slowness of his companions. he
sprang from the rocks and disappeared
under the cool water IN long. deep.
comfortable looking dive. An instant
later the pen was a vortex of white
foam, In the midst of which whirled
the white shoulders of the commander,
and through which cut with lightning
slashes the black dorsal and tail fms
of the big shark. Yelling like a COM
anche, the frightened swimmer reached
the outer palings at the end Of half
dozen desperate overland strokes
clambered over the barrier, tumbled
into the water beyond, and, wide eyed
with terror started lunging right on
toward the open sea. When he was
finally recalled to the bank. 1t was to
declare that the pen was literally alive
with sharks, and not even after the
ubiquitous man eater, riddled with bull
lets from the revolvers OF the officers.
harpooned by some fishermen and las
seed by some cowboys. was hauled out
on the beach, could he be made to be-
lieve that the score or more or Its TEL
+ lows among which he imagined he had
plunged had not escaped. Inasmuch as
a frightened shark has never been
known to touch so much as piece OF
raw beef, the impetuous commander
was never in real danger of anything
but heart failure and a slap or two
from the monsters tail.
The Indians of the district have
legend about a man and maid who
elopetl from san Luis. fed to Magdalena
bay. and were there turned. respective
~, into shark and turtle by god
or devil, or something of the kind, into
whose hands they chanced to fall. As a
proof of the truth of this story the In
6ians claim that If you go out and sing
on q moonlight night on a certain point
on the leeward side OF Santa MarEarita
the shark and the turtle W II appelr~tc
you.
son and me-" said an onicer oPthe Paul
Jones. Jack said he was quite ready
to believe the transformation part OF
the story because his native canoe had
turned turtle that very morning. But in
the matter OF the power of music to call
up the loving counie we were both
agreed that we would like a de non
stration. So that night we rowed over
with dozen or more Indians to the en-
chanted point and started up as fine
concert as you ever heard. The Indians
had just finished up O. song and a dance
with refrain of .'Papp-peekey-papp.
and Jack and / were just getting John
Browns Body under way when the un-
mistakable fin of tiger began to cut
back and forth across the path of the
rising moon simultaneously a black
hump began to show in the water al
most directly in front u, and pres
emily the natives called our attention
to the fact that IL was slswly rising
above the surface; adding that the
turtle was getting ready to swim over
and meet the shark. 1t was at this
iuncture that the observant Jack on
noted the fact that the tide was rapid
falling, and after ricochetting a reund
of bullets from our Colts OFF the back
of the quondam maiden without stir
ring her into activity we went back to
the ship fully convinced that tn. story
was fabrication. the shark a coin
cidence and the turtle black rock"
A Fisherman's Invention
The sharks of the bay take almost
any kind of bait. and it is rarely that
az warship Is at anchor without from
one to half dozen lines dangling over
its stern. Watching a shark line Is
tedious business. but 1t Is strictly
necessary in order for the fisherman
to know when he is hooked. as his
frantic rushes, II allowed to go un-
checked, are pretty sure to cause some
part of the line, leader or even some
OF his own anatomy to give way and