Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-08-14
Daily Short Story
'PouIpe Of the MudIine'

* NJ &tIS
was too BIG for his home. Thel
came the day when he amblcd out
fed hugely on the carcass OF
dead dolphin-and could not ge
back into the hOwitZer!
This predicament now was no
so serious as earlier IL had been
/ lie was a good-sized octopus now
measuring rs feet from tip 10 III
of his extended arms.
The ocean floor off Guam slopes
with moderate steepneSS 10 five
fathom depth. Here is that curl
Gus natural phenomenon called the
mudline.
Here all the seeds and growth'
from shore pile up Here the
small cruStacea die and open their
shells. The mudline follows the
contours Of depth. Always II is
about five fathoms down.
OCEAN BED Tits
Just outside the mudIine a
Guam. the ocean bed tits down al
IAN awesome S0-degree angle
Down. down, down-and five anc
one-half miles down is what Is
known rs the Guam Trench. the
second deepest part Of the whole
Pacific. Queer things are there in
that hehtlcSs subcellar Of Old Mar
ocean.
In this search for a home
Poulpe now swan backwards like
a sQuid. And at long last he came
TO the brink of a dark, deep fis-
sure. a submarine canyon 30 feet
across at the open top. No doubt
IL was a break in the rock Cliff
made by some long past earth
quake
Poulpe teetered on the edge. In
stinct warmed him subtly 10 be-
ware OF depths and great pressure
And then, how about food? There
might be nothing but empty shells
down there.
Slowly Tapping its enormously
powerful tail. a fiat, gigantic
shadow between Poulpe and the
surface light. II was the nemesis
of all smaller cuttlefish, and a
threat of horrible death to Poulpe
himself.
It was a giant sawfish ray, a
nattish monster with 12O0-pound
body more elongated than the rest
OF the rays, and a 5-foot snout,
saw-edged. which he drove into his
victims, disemboweling them or
tearing them 10 bleeding tatters.
Poulpe saw him. and Scuttled
for the depths of the dark assure
"a trifle later than he could have
gone. Down swept the deadly saw
snout, aiming straight at the rub
berry body OF the octopus!
GETS A CHANCE
Poulpe squeezed fat his big sac
of Sepia, and the surrounding wa
ter suddenly became opaque. That
gave him one Slight chance for
life, as the first lunge Of the saw
missed a vital part, striking and
managing only one of the eight
clinging tentacles.
The octopus closed instantly
with his foe, fighting in the only
manner IL knew, wrapping It's
arms tightly about the body OF
the ray. exerting terrific suction
which drew white blood at each
of the hundreds of vacuum points,
and turning in the horny parrots
beak for gnawing, terrible bites at
the softer, whitish ventral side OF
the saw ray.
Murky turmoil! The ray did not
like this turn TO affairs. It's mus
cular tail beat powerfully, throw
ing both combatants against the
sides OF the assure as they slowly
sank. The saw finally raSped
through the one tentacle 1t had
caught at the start.
/ Poulpe shrank a little when that
happened. The ray managed &c
tear free. decorating another ten
tacle and gashing Poulpe's side.
BLEEDS BADLY
But the ray wished no moro
combat here in the dark of the
submarine canyon. Two flaps o.
its tail and it gained the light