seized by the long unerring pair of tentacular arms 

 of a squid and brought up to the sharp parrot-like 

 beak and dispatched with a bite through the back. 

 At this conjuncture, one of the larger Loligos — 

 a full-grown female — sighted the small dead indi- 

 vidual at my feet. There was no mistaking the in- 

 tent in the look of her horrid eyes. Nor was the 

 capacity if not the nature of her emotions less 

 plainly indicated. As she swam up to the 

 lifeless squid, her body, colorless and clearly 

 contrasted against the dark areas of the bottom, 

 now became suffused with a succession of deep 

 purple flushes. That these changes of hue were not 

 for the purpose of concealment was indicated by 

 the fact that the creature made no attempt to main- 

 tain its color in harmony with the prevailing tone 

 of the floor; its violet blushes were produced with- 

 out regard to the character of the bottom, and at 

 times it was rendered even more conspicuous when 

 hovering over a patch of dead bleached and white 

 shells. None the less, these alternations were start- 

 ling to behold: the weird aspect the squid pre- 

 sented in changing from shadow to substance, or 

 from a being of ponderable form to a veritable 

 ghost, impalpable in appearance, could be well 



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