Evening star., 1909-08-21

fathoms Of muscu-
lar length slid through the sea with his
weapon always ready. always unsheathed.
and its immense strength and deadly
sharpness warranted his faith in his
ability to prove himself upon all Grants
or trespassers.
He was what the fishermen termed
"soadfish." or. properly speaking. sword
fish. giant of the mackerel tribe. His
weapon was four feet long. four inches
wide at the hilt or where 1t joined his
head and 1t tapered exactly like an
armed warriors blade, like the mailed
was not quite as sharp as'that of the
steel-clad human fighters, but it was
very tough and keen enough to penetrate
anything of flesh and blood with the
feet deep into the belly of a whale with
out exerting half his strength, and 1t
made CHASTITY wound. With his 100
pounds of flesh and bone behind it, flying
through the water at the rate or twenty
miles an hour. he could drive that sword
through a ships bottom-through four
inch plank. The fiat blade had sharp
edges and he could strike sideways "A
terrific chopping blow which would put
a smaller denizen of the sea beyond the
cares of self-support.
r. olu fha no
beginning of spring, striking in along
the land where the colossal wall falls a
sheer mile or more into the deep ocean
bed few miles to the southwark of
the Hatteras shoals. Nine miles be-
low the Diamond shoals lightship the
sandy bottom sinks quickly to thousand
fathoms or more and below in the bed
of the Atlantic the mighty wall is swept
by the tepid waters of the gulf or Florida
stream.
AT the beginning of summer the sword
his custom. He was a fighter. a follower
of unending strife, a knight who knew
no surfeit of battle as long as he had
strength to follow and strike his foe.
The wounds he inflicted he took not at all
into consideration, and often wantoniy
struck and slashed frantically into a
peaceful school of fish for the pure love
of the slaughter.
The first denizen of the deep water
who claimed his attention was a giant
ray. or devil: This monster weighing
a full ton or more and measuring fully
fifteen feet across the tips of his wings or
fiukes, came sliding along the edge of the
shoaI. heading up from the southwark.
where he had spent the cold weather.
The quiet sea was much to his liking,
and he sought the sunshine of the sur
face. 1t warmed him and he flung his
whole immense bulk skyward, preaching
clear and falling back into the water with
roar like a small cannon as his fat
fukes struck solid upon the surface The
joy of life was in him.
Out upon the smooth sea Law the knight
of the bank basking in the bright sun
shine. The sudden smash of the great
body falling into the water attracted lis
attention. 1t seemed like challenge.
He gave quick swing to his sharklike
tail and IN a moment his high dorsaI fin
thin and sharp and curved backward
was cutting the water like a knife
shearing its way toward the intruder
The sea devil. monstrous, fearless.
noticed form approaching. In an in
slant II took the shape of long, thin
object with a long. pointed weapon held
before. and as he swung to meet it he
opened his huge jaws for a savage bite.
for he knew at once that he was to meet
an attack which would be no slight
fracas. no small scrimmage and a break
away.
The Knight of the Shoal took in the