from what cause? Naturally the only answer to 

 this was that death resulted from its abnormal en- 

 vironment. Its injury may have been a contribut- 

 ing factor (although this was extremely improb- 

 able) but it was not the chief cause, as no vital 

 organ was affected. Therefore, wherein was my 

 tank lacking that it led to the creature's killing'? 

 I suspected at first that pressure — or rather lack 

 of it — might have had something to do with it; but 

 when I recalled that these animals are often found 

 in a healthy condition close to shore, this theory 

 lost its attraction . . . No. Deductions could not 

 be drawn here . . . Yet somehow I felt that if I 

 could solve this problem, the solution to the entire 

 business would be reached with comparative ease. 

 Nevertheless, in the remote recesses of my mind, 

 there persisted in lurking a vague haunting sus- 

 picion. And a suspicion only, it remained; until an 

 event occurred that resolved it into something con- 

 siderably more than a mere suspicion. 



This event was the further fact that on the 

 morning after that bright June day which passed 

 with so much promise, I found that every serpent- 

 star in my tanks was either stark dead or rapidly 

 dying! . . . 



[63] 



