Omaha daily bee., 1916-09-25
By GARRETT P. SERVISS.

II There was great meeting of fishes
at place in the Pacific ocean. The
whale had demanded to be treated as
the king of the sea.
u am the biggest" he said; 81 cal
the most, travel the farthest, | have
seen all the oceans, | can lie on TOP
OF them and watch the ships, and re,
gard the sun at my leisure, and where
ever | go room is made for me.
am majestic in look and in motion.
ought to be your king, and proclaim
myself such"
None of the conferees ventured to
dispute the whales claim until huge
carcharodon shark pushed his way to
the front of the assembly. Out OF
the presence of the whale the shark
would have seemed truly majestic, for
he was no less than forty feet in
length, but the great cetacean, which
attained double that length and was
bulky in proportion, dwafted him by
comparison.
Would you make yourself king
over me?" asked the shark, with a
ferocious grin, as he circled round in
front of the whale. do you really
feel big enough to swallow me? Come,
now, I'd like to see you try it! You
are an upstart, parvenu. Who were
your ancestors? Where do you be-
gin? You are no fish, anyway. The
salmon told me that He said you
were a mammal, which, take it, is
something like a man. You boast OF
your size, but you are merely over
grown.
IF anybody is to be king, / am
the one.
am true fish, and look at my
descent. There was time" Che
meant the Tertiary age, but he was no
geologist), when my forefathers were
bigger than you. But bigness is moth
ing without other qualities. My race
has put off useless size, we have
dropped more than half our length
but we have gained in speed and in
fighting power. Look out how you
try to lord it over mep
LET 'em fight it out," ~cried a little
sardine, and Immediately the cry was
taken up by the crowd, and the coral
lined caverns beneath them echoed
with their excited voices, while their
fms flashed in the shafts of sunlight
for they weren the surface and in
waters of exquisite clearness.
The shark was eager to take up the
challenge, but the whale seemed a
little 10th to stake his chances on a
battle with so alert all antagonist
However, when his fiery rival opened
the fray by nipping him in his huge
round side, the great whale swung
into action with surprising quickness.
| He tried to deal the shark smashing
blow with his tail, but that weapon
was less effective under water than
it would have been on the surface, and
the shark glided away with mocking
laugh and nipped the whale again in
the side.
81 dare you to come out on the sur
face" said the whale, who wanted to
employ the full swing of his mighty
tail, with which he had sent more
than one boat loaded with whale fish
ers to the bottom, but the shark was
too wary.
What should come out on the
surface for?" he asked. This is a
fight for the rule of the sea. Go up
yourself and fight ships. If you want
kingdom you might take that of the
air. If you win it, send down few
of its present rulers for me to sup
on"
Taking advantage of the exposure
that the whale had made of its
broad belly in rising to the surface,
the shark gave his huge antagonist a
dig that, if his mouth had been wider,
might have settled the contest in his
favor. But at this moment a new per
sonage made his appearance on the
scene, There was flash and rush.
followed by sudden crimsoning OF
the water, and the vast body of the
whale 1urched over to one side, and
its painful, struggling movements
showed that deadly blow had been
dealt to it.
Without an instant's pause the new
conner turned upon the shark and
transfixed it with lance as long and
keen as two-handed sword. All the
spectators recoiled in alarm, and some
fled at the top of their speed. The
champion who had produced this I'M
expected turn of the battle, apparently
satisfied with what he had done
ceased his darting motions, and, as,
suming an unmistakable air of COM
radeship, drew neal. those that re-
NAMED watching, and said:
II understand that this is toirna-
ment for the kingship of the sea- Very
we'll, you know me, most of you, and
put in my claim. Is there anyone
here who>will try conclusions with a