
SEA SERPENT-OR WAS IT
AN OCTOPUS?-SEEN IN GULF
A party of fishermen aboard the Conga returned from the Gulf today to tell a thrilling story of seeing a
giant sea serpent-or perhaps it was an even bigger octopus-battling a whale. The sea serpent-or
octopus-almost got the Conga as well when it stirred up such a rumpus that it created waves ten-or
perhaps twenty-feet high.
Captain Teold of the Conga, who swears his passengers drank nothing but water on their trip, bore out
their story and added some details of his own. He said-
One newspaper even hired a plane and took Captain Teold along to point out the exact spot where the
sea battle was supposed to have taken place. Later it printed a picture of a placid section of water.
Nothing was to be seen, not even from the air. But that wasn’t surprising, Teold pointed out, even if the
sea serpent or octopus, or whatever it was, still was about. The water was deep in that particular place.
Teold wasn’t taken seriously. The newspapers called it the best fish story of the year.
Teold didn’t mind. He found that a lot of people wanted to go out and look at the scene of the battle just
the same. His boat did a rushing business, even though none of the curious saw any more than was
shown in the newspaper picture.
There was one set of pictures, however, that would have created a real sensation had they been seen.
They were the pictures the tall man Hahln had taken. But the newspapers never saw those.
Hahln developed the films himself. He had a suite of rooms in the Kirkland Hotel and had fitted up the
bathroom so he could use it as a darkroom. The hotel management thought he was an amateur
photographer, evidently with a private income, since he never seemed to work. He also was known to
tinker with radio some, but nothing much was thought of that. Lots of people did the same.
Perspiration was on the tall man’s square face as he took the film from the fixing solution, rinsed it briefly,
then held it up before a light. After that his eyes became stony and his lips set in a tight line.
When the film was dry, he made an enlargement of one of the pictures and studied it closely. Once he
shook his head unbelievingly, but he could not dispute the evidence before him.
He put the picture aside and went to his radio set. The radio was his own property, not the one furnished
by the hotel. He unlocked the cabinet and took out a pair of earphones and a small microphone.
When he spoke, it was in a foreign language. He talked at some length and the tone of his voice showed
he was apologizing for something. After that, he listened. A voice crackled harshly in his ears.
Hahln’s fingers were trembling as he removed the earphones. He looked like a man who had just been
sentenced to death. He sat for a long time without moving.
IT was almost dusk when Hahln stirred again. He cleaned up the bathroom, emptying chemicals from
many bottles. Then he went through papers he had locked in a suitcase. A great many of these he
burned, making a small fire in the bathtub.
His clothes came next. Carefully he went over each suit he had, destroying tailors’ labels and laundry
marks. His face was a frozen mask.
When everything else was done, he turned to the radio. For long moments he looked at it. Once it