THE BATTLE'
A Fight With An Alleged Sea
Monster. .
"
,The new hand stood dressed in
his diving harness, waiting for
the helmet to be placed upon his
head. Meanwhile the chief of the
aquarium staff was giving him
his final instructions.
"You wont be down more than
ten niinutes, Hank," he said,
"and it'll be a new experience for
you. It ain't once in a year we
have to put the diving dress on a
man, but there's no other way of
getting the water out of the
tank when, the overflow is stop
ped up with that confounded
weed.
"That sekweed seems to grow
in this tanjc more than in any,"
he went ori meditatively, adjust
ing the helmet valves. "I remem
ber the las time we had to send
a man down one of the green
moVays had squirmed through
the inflow pipe and nearly killed
him. You saw them in the next
tank?"
The new hand had seen them.
Ferocious green eels, of the size
of boa contrictors,'they seemed
to him the most horrible of all
forms of sea life as they lay gap
ing in the pipes that had been
laid for them at the bottom of
their tank, with head and tail
protruding. "Ferocious and
bloodthirsty," read'the legend in
front of their apartment
"Well, here goes, Hank." said
Hscom3njqn, fastening the hel
met over the man's head, and the
new hand-descended into the
depths of the great tank. Twelve
feet below the surface a semi-twilight
prevailed, a green and semi
opaque world of silence' and mys
tery. The man made his way to the
outlet pipe at the far end, walking
with difficulty on account of the
water pressure and the heavy
diving suit. To his surprise he
found the outlet free. The water
was running out with a slight
suction that drew his hand
against the pipe. Plainly there
had been some mistake. There
was nothing to de done; the pipe
was wqrking normally.
The man retraced his steps in
the direction of the small patch
of light, hardly discernible, which
showed where the iron ladder en
tered the roofed tank at the exit
The way seemed difficult, the
distance enormous.
Suddenly, through the glass in
his helmet, he perceived a spec
tacle that froze the blood in his
veins. Three feet in front of him.
gliding snake-wise through the
water, was one of the ferocious
green morays.
Six feet long at the least, the
color of the green water, it was
distinguishable only as an undul
ating streak below the surface,
level with his throat. The mon
ster had evidently scented him
from its lair in the adjoining tank,
and with incredible cunning, had
wormed its way through the nar
row inflow pipe. "
Thediver could not hear the.
shriek that burst from the lips,
i i -i i iifi -- -g- -