308 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



a mighty spring I passed slowly but quite across 

 the sandy boulevard and beyond to another city, 

 this one of cones, inverted cones at that, like enor- 

 mous anemones. The swell was increasing and far 

 off at one side I could see the iron ladder frantically 

 jerking up and down. Hardly had I curled my- 

 self in between three small cones, with a branching 

 tangle of animal blossoms in front, when there 

 occurred that dimming of the light with which I 

 had become so familiar. Leisurely there passed 

 overhead three hundred — three hundred and 

 twenty-six to be exact — of the big, black surgeon- 

 fish. They wandered over to the great brown 

 coral which I had left, and spread over it like a 

 herd of sheep across a meadow. Nibble, nibble, 

 nibble, as they climbed slowly, drawing the black 

 blanket of their numbers over every inch of the 

 surface. A strong surge swept them a yard away, 

 held them suspended for a moment, and then re- 

 turned them each to his place on the coral. 



To my coarse and untutored vision each retreat- 

 ing surge seemed to restore things exactly as they 

 were, and yet, if I could see all the hidden activ- 

 ities of my kingdom, I would know that every 

 swell, each minute and each hour, must cause a 

 thousand thousand tragedies — exposing to hos- 

 tile, alien eyes hidden weakness and camouflaged 

 defenselessness. Not a moment passes but some- 

 where a color secret is exploded, an inedible bluff 

 called, for even a fish's memory can span ten feet 

 and two seconds, with hunger as the stimulus. 



As the buffalo herons and cowbirds and black 



