and showing that wicked slit of a mouth.
Believing that he had gone for good, r
stepped again cautiously out into the open.
On the instant he was back and made
another vicious drive at me.
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MAN-EATER
COIN
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IIEVIEW
50
fOR
JULY
1943
(Continued From Page 45)
of a sort of precipice, I discerned a shadowy
mass, like a cluster of enormous rocks, and
approached it. This was exactly what it was
-several huge fragments of rock. And
among them, reaching far up into the
depths of my green heaven, was the wreck!
There, held high on the rock fragments,
was the whole forward part of the hulk of
the Santa Paula. She had broken in two
just abaft midships. The huge teakwood
timbers of her stern portion, however, lay
right before me, no larger than one of the
rocks beyond. And for a ship's hulk which
had lain some two hundred or more years
on the floor of the sea, she was excep·
tionally well preserved-what there was
left of her.
After having examined the si tuation
quickly, I had just finished my job of plac·
ing the explosive charges, had clambered
off the old timer, and was just starting to·
ward my line when I paused suddenly and
looked upward. I was watching the upper
water sharply, and through the top light
I saw somethin g dark overhead. A streak
that moved lazily, huge in size, and which
gave my lines a flick.
It was a 'tiger' shark!
To me below, he looked enormous.
Getting out my knife, I stood ready. The
shark did not come down to me right at
the moment. He was curious about my lines,
and flickered around them, then was gone
with a tremendous rush. The single glance
which I had had of him had been enough
to send a chill to my backbone.
"Trouble on the way up, eh?" I thought.
I sli pped like an eel behind a rock, into
an opening-the whole underwater region
is full of such crevices-many of them im-
mense in th eir size--where there wouldn't
be room for him to navigate if he came
back again.
Suddenly, down through the water,
straight as a plummet, was dropping some-
thing large and fairly active, to judge from
its speed. What it was I could not make
out for the best of reasons. I had no time.
Then came a rush of water, the swift flicker
of a long shape overhead-then the shark
had come and gone. He had, however,
gobbled that huge falling object with one
snap of his great jaws, taken it on the wing,
so to speak, and was off again out of sight.
"Damn it," I said to myself, "that's
funny."
This huge " tiger" of the sea was at least
eighteen or nineteen feet long, and he
looked an ugly customer, qui ck as a cat,
driving swiftly with his blade-shaped tail,
Prying open the ancient lock on a strong
box of fhe " Santa Paula" was not the easiesf
thing to do under wafer; especially when an
eighteen foof tiger of the sea was curious foo .
I'd never seen a shark act th~t way be·
fore. "By God!" I thought. "This is past a
joke."
I'd never been attacked before, and this
beast was playing a game where he knew
the rules and I didn't. This creature could
chop off a diver's head, helmet and all, as
if it were nothing; and swallow it, too,
for he was huge enough to take down most
anything. Those triangular cutting blades,
with their serrated edges, slash like razors
when clamped down with such power as a
shark's jaw muscles possess.
I lay hidden for quite a while. Stretchinp:
out and peering around, I could see nothing
of the creature. So at last I started to climb
over this overhangin g shoulder, expecting,
as soon as I knew everything was clear, to
signal I was coming up.
lust as I straightened up, standing on
the crest of this coral should er, I had a
glimpse, through the edge of the face glass,
of a big object plunging down at me. At
the same instant it seemed he was fairly
on top of me.
I was enraged at being haunted in this
fashion.
My right hand shot out in front of him,
my left was ready clutching the knife. The
shark kept coming fast. My right hand al·
most touched the upper part of the brute's
snout. It snapped as he made his swoop at
me. In a flash I was out of the way of that
deadly lunge, my right hand sJi'ding along
the back of the shark until it touched the
dorsal fin. My left hand clutching the knife
drove the keen blade into the creature's
underside with all my force, just as he
veered to avoid rushing into the huge coral
and rock shoulder. The long blade of the
big knife ripped the brute from the cen·
ter of his white belly-clean down to the
tail!
The huge creature gushed blood!
He leaped and plunged like a runaway
horse, behaved like a savage working him·
self up in a war dance, like a torpedo. He
Confjrafulafionj-
And Besl Wishes 10
The
COIN MACHINE REVIEW
on its
TENTH ANNIVERSARY
•
Carl and Bill Happel
BADGER SALES CO. II BADGER NOVELTY CO.
1612 W. Pico Blvd.
LOS ANGELES 15. CAL.
2546 North 30th St.
MILWAUKEE 10. WIS.
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