COMEDY AND TRAGEDY 31 



But quick as he was the turtle was swifter. 

 Its toothless beak fell like a hammer and 

 stopped the rush, sending the little bass 

 shuddering backward. 



The shock halted him, and for a moment 

 he delayed ; but not the turtle. It was quick 

 to seize its advantage, and paddled cannily 

 up the tunnel. Like a pugilist pressed on 

 before he recovers from a blow, White 

 Belly tried desperately to recover and evade 

 the oncoming foe. He hurried the two feet 

 to the end of the channel in a wild blind 

 effort; turned and darted swiftly from side 

 to side as if to unsettle his antagonist's pur- 

 pose. 



But on it came. A swift-moving leg 

 seemed unexpectedly right under the fish. 

 A sharp black claw caught at the left gills 

 and tore them. A blood vessel broke, and 

 the water carried a dark stain. 



He was but five months old. The average 

 life of a bass is eight years and that of man 

 forty. So comparatively White Belly was 

 the age of a two and a half year old child. 

 He was no match in cleverness or strength 

 for this traditional enemy. 



The loss of blood both weakened and 



