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when he rose erect A steel door fitted into the rock. There was no light and scarcely any air. The walls were covered with moss and slime A strong man lives seven years in such a cell. Gonzales decided that quick death from ripping sharks teeth was better. Late one afternoon he was sum moned for examination by the prison inspector as a preliminary to his final sentence. He had no doubt what that sentence would be. On the way back to his cell at dusk, accompanied by only one guard, he wrested the guard's. pistol from him, felled him with the butt of it, climbed an inner bastion to the top of the wall, slid down the outer side to an old gun port, took off his shoes and coat and dived 30 feet to the sea. Gonzales is an excellent swimmer. He dived deep and swam far before he came up. Then he looked back at the prison. The walls were lined with guards, but they had not seen him yet. He turned and struck out for the shore and found himself face to face with a huge sand shark. It gave him a fright, but he knew such sharks are harmless. Two hundred yards of powerful overhand swimming and he was still safe. Then, with a fierce rush a gray, torpedo-shaped body shot past him and he heard the cry from the fort ress battlements: "Los tiburones! Los tiburones!" "The sharks! The sharks!" the guard shouted in triumph. They were sure he would go the way of all the others. He dived deep and far, and when at last his chest was heaving and his head bursting he rose and the man eater swung across just over his head. He swam on desperately, splash ing and shouting at the top of his -voice, and at last, seeing the shark making another rush, he dived again and swam under the water till he choked for air: When he came up he felt sand un der his feet He had reached shallow water where the shark dared not fol low. He floundered through the mud fiats, ran up over the hills, got cloth ing, money and a horse from friends, rode to .Tampico and he sailed for New Orleans, where he lived until the Madero rule was overthrown. o o HAD A RIGHT TO COMPLAIN "Why is your little brother cry- ing?" " 'Cause he doesn't like my new suit." 'But what difference does it make to him?" "Lots. He knows he's got to wear it after I'm through with it." o o Merchant Have you collected that bill of Smith's? Collector Have I collected it? I called at the house and found that seven Smiths lived there. Six declared they owed nothing and the seventh kicked me out of the house. Merchant That's the one. Go back and getthe-moaay