Gunnison news-champion., 1916-11-17

scean that vs had anythiae - =
with.
II wss q man. . living nan. n II
dian. . alderman. poor devil who.
suppose. had come to glean before the
harvest ] could see the bottom Of his
canoe anchored some feet above his
bead He dived and went up suc,ex-
sively. A stone held between Lis feet.
cut in the shape u . sugar loaf. while
Q rope fastened him to hlD boat, helped
him to descend more rapidly. This
was all his apparatus- Reaching IL
bottom about nve yards deep. be went
en his knees and Oiled his bag with
oysters picked up at random. Then
be went up. emptied Il. pulled up bis
stone and began the operation once
more. which lasted thirty seconds.
The diver did not see w. The shad-
ow Of the rock bid Us from sight And
how should this poor Indian ever
dream that men. beings like himself.
should be there under the water watch
ing his movements and losing no detail
Of the fishing? Several times he went
up in this way and dived again. He
did not carry away more than ten at
each plunge. for he was obliged 10
pull them from the bank to which
they adhered by means Of their strong
byssus. And how many OF those oys-
tiers for which he risked his life had
no pearl In them! watched him
closely. His maneuvers were regular.
and for the space of half an hour no
danger appeared to threaten him.
i was beginning to accustom myself
to the sight OF this interesting fishing
when suddenly. as the Indian was on
the ground, l saw him make q gesture
Of terror. rise and make a spring to re.
turn to the surface Of the sea.
! understood his dread. A gigantic
shadow appeared Just above the un-
fortunate diver. II was a shark Of
enormous size advancing diagonally,
his eyes on fre and his jaws open. !
was mute with horror and unable to
move.
The voracious creature shot toward
the Indian. who threw himself on one
side In order to avoid the sharks fms
but not its tail. for It struck his chest
and stretched him on the ground.
This scene lasted but few seconds
The shark returned and, turning on his
back. prepared himself for cutting the
Indian In two. when l saw Captain
Memo rise suddenly and then. dagger
in hand. walk straight to the monster.
ready to fight face to face with him
The very moment the shark was going
to snap the unhappy fisherman In two
he perceived his new adversary and,
turning over, made straight toward
him.
can still see Captain Nemo's position.
Holding himself well together. he walt.
ed for the shark with admirable cool
ness. and. when It rushed at him.
threw himself on one side with won
derful quickness. avoiding the shock
and burying his dagger deep into Its
side. But 1t was not all over. A ter
rible combat ensued.
The shark had seemed to roar. II !
might say SO. The blood rushed In
torrents from its wound. The sea was
dyed red. and through the opaque
liquid could distinguish nothing more
nothing more until the moment when
Ike lightning. ! saw the undaunted
captain hanging on to one of the crea'
ture's fms. struggling. rs It were, hand
to hand with the monster and dealing
successive blows at bis enemy, yet
still unable to give a decisive one.
The sharks struggles agitated the
water with such fury that the rocking
threatened to upset me.
wanted to go to the captains as
sistance; but, nailed to the spot with
horror, could not stir.
saw the haggard eye; ! saw the
different phases OF the fight The cap
tain fell to the earth. upset by the