The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-11-01

bend, however, I came right mp againa
a bowIder that completely filed the creei
bed. The trail ended right there. II
appeared as if the rock had recently
rolled down to where 1t lay.
II thought that if l could climb oved
it / could continue on up the water
course. So 1 started to climb. Ths
bowlder was rough enough for me "a
gain holds for my hands and feet, and
though it was slow, hard work and ]
often slipped back, at last I managed ia
surmount it and stood on top. To my
intense surprise I found myself within q
dozen feet of the floor Of the mesa, and
just above me arm Of the giant cac-
tus / had seen from the other mountain.
Then / determined, instead of contiuu-
ing in the dry creek bed, to scale this
wall and so reach the mesa, where lex
pected to find the silver mine,
1.-THE sandstone was soft and I had
strong knife. Besides, at the edge I saw
some vines hanging over that looked
strong enough to bear my weight il !
succeeded in reaching them. Sol began
to clinb the wall.
Sat last / grasped the hanging vines.
"The stems were covered with fine
points, like a prickly pear, but I could
not let go without falling. I reached
my other hand higher and grasped am
other vine.
.'In an instant its tendrils were around
my wrist, other stems fell over the edge
of the cliff. They curled around my
arms and waist like snakes. Then they
began to draw me up, and almost before
l realized it I was dragged over the edge
of the chasm almost to the foot Of the
cactus.
"The vines dragged me on, other
stems curled about my legs and drew
tighter and tighter.
''Then l realized that the Indian story
was no fable. The idea Of being in the
power Of this constructing thing that
covered acres of land paralyzed me for
an instant. The hand that had just
touched the vines was being crushed in
the devilish tendons. My little finger
was broken backward by the power Of
the vine. The pain brought me to my
senses, and I began to fight for my life.
One hand was free, and in it was my
knife. / began to hack at the snakelike
coils of the devilish vegetable. As fast
as I could cut away n running stem
another would coil around me. Fight
as I would, the vines was stronger, and
on and on it dragged me.
"My foot struck something, and I felt
it crush and crumble beneath my heel. /
looked down. 1t was q human head,
one Of those white spots I had seen
through my glass. The body, fearfully
shrunken and emaciated, lay there
among the coiling, twisting vines. Near
it was another.
81 realized it all while / hacked and
struggled. These two had been caught
in the tolls of the awful monster like
myself and strangled.
II was getting weak, The pressure
about my limbs was ~unbearable. l had
cut myself badly IN cutting the stran<
Cling bonds. I looked over the mesa
with a wild hope Of seeing some p or
something to help me.
'sThe mesa was all In motion, The
vines were twisting, curling, falling, xis-
ing, trembling. 1t was a. moving mass,
like the ocean, and the wave were
reaching and falling toward me-.
ut was not the wind blowing the
snakeweed. The fiendish plant had life
and motion and every fiber of it was
straining to reach me. I knew that it
those advancing waves of black ever
reached me / was lost I would be like
those shriveled bodies by the giant cac4
tus.
Il made q final effort to escape. !
could hear the muscles crack and strain
as / pulled. lieut. the thickest stem that
enveloped me, and for the first time
since the struggle began was able to
make a step backward. But the fight
was not over yet. A dozen smaller ten
drills, like so many ~whipcords, were tam
gled about me, cutting into my flesh
with a terrible power. I had kept my
throat free, though the vegetable SER
pents seemed to strive to coil about It.
So I cut and struggled backward. A
final slash, a jump, and I was over the
edge and on the bowlder In the dry
creek. But the demons arms followed
me. I knew that they would seize me
again before / could get down, 20 I
dashed to the other side of the water
course and clambered up there.
"How I thanked God when l found
nothing there but greasewood and cactus
l saw the vines swing and sway over
where I had escaped, and then / tainted.
"When I came to the mesa was quiet
again. The vines had receded, and if ii
had not been for my aching. swollen
limbs I would have sworn it was all q
nightmare. But there lay two dried out
bodies. While I lay there ] recognized
one of them. It was the half breed mer-
chant from Merida. The other was
doubtless the Indian who betrayed tbs
secret Of the silver mine.
Bric-a-Brac. &
The person who is inclined to boast OF
his valuable possessions is likely to have
| the laugh turned Upon him, on occasion.