Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-02-26

ern he directed the red men to haul tne
venomous terazula When they had de
posted the creature on the ground inside
he directed their attention to a smaller
cavern, leading of from the main one. near
its entrance
"Put him in there" he ordered
Once in the smaller cave the animal was
penned in by the introduction of a rock at
its opening There were some crevices in
the rock, and through these the Indian,
under Monty's direction, made bold to
thrust hand in which he held a knife. He
cut the thongs in two places, and they had
been so ingeniously tied that these cuts
were sufficient to release the captive's head
and legs. As soon as this was done they
heard a scrambling, wild and terrible, in
side the little cavity. The terazula was
thrashing about in a way that showed an
appreciation of the use of his long impris-
oned members. They left the cave and
Monty paid the red men for the reptile
and for their services. They started at
once for their homes far over the noun
tains.
Now came the problem of how to induce
his enemy 20 enter the cave and how TO
turn the teraZula upon him. The iendish
Clark knew that some plot would be sus-
pected if he was seen to have "A hand in the
matter. But there were ways and ways.
IL he caused Jed to believe that he had
found gold mine in the cavern it might
be an easy task to get him in there. He
began TO set the plan and saw that it had
the desired effect at the very outset. Now
to so arrange the rock at the mouth Of the
terazula's den, 50 as to make it slip back
easily and block the entrance to the main
cavern. This he would do by tying strong
RATA to the rock. If his horse were handy
outside he could take turn around the
horn of the saddle and easily swing the
doorway to the den as he wanted it to be
swung. He went to the place and attached
the rope as he had planned.
Then he covered it with earth and small
stones so that it could not be seen trailing
out of the entrance. While at this work
he looked toward the roof of the cave and
saw a faint streak Of light. 1t descended
through some upper opening that he had
not noticed before. He looked more care
fully and saw that the newly discovered
opening was a crooked passage up into the
mass of rocks, the rude piling up of which
had formed the cave. Here might be a
chance for his enemy's escape when at
tackled by the monster That would not
do. He went outside and, climbing the
rocks, found the cleft and heaped upon it
many large stones.
''No way of escape now" he muttered, as
! he stood inside the cavern again and look
carefully about him in the dim light that
came from the main entrance He sat
down upon a rock and gloated over the
vengeance that was TO be his. that seemed
already his, in fact
HE will stand here and Of a sudden will
be plunged into darkness by the rock being
moved from the mouth of the monsters
den into the caves entrance" he thought.
"Then there will be few streaks showing
| through, and as his eyes become accus-
/ toned to the darkness he will see in the
| dim light the form of the great reptile
| rushing toward him" His eyesdanced as
/ he pictured the horrible scene in his mind
| "Then there will be a sight that / would
/ give much to see. By no possible means
| can he save himself"
/ He ran his mind over the dangers of the
| desert and could think Of none more ter
| rible than to be within reach Of the terra
| zula Escape from a rattlesnake, he knew,
was an easy matter. The reptile gave
warning and one could Stay him with a
[ whip or cane. Escape from a tarantula
was a matter Of taking a step aside. And
/ then one could crunch him under his foot
| if he desired, as he was only big black
/ spider. Escape from a scorpion was sim.
| ply the brushing of the reptile from ones
/ body, and his sting could be received with
| impunity, as only slight swelling would
result. Escape from a centipede was merely
| the turning over in ones blankets The
worm could be crushed by the heel or, as
| he had seen it done, by the fiat Of the hand,
| But escape from the terazula, who rushed
| upon his prey as swiftly as any of the little
| lizards on the rocks darted at hy-that
was quite another affair He was quick.
wide Of range. terrible of execution.
As he thought over these things a smile
of triumph came upon his bronzed face.
He arose from his seat upon the rock and
took a step forward to leave the horrible
place. AS he did so he saw two living Goals
of fire near the entrance of the cavern.
They were set in a dark form that crouched
in the shadow and near that form was the
rock in front Of the monsters den, under
which there was large hole, newly dug
The form sprang aside a little, darling
into the sharp light that streamed in
through the cavern's entrance. But the
eyes lost none of their awful luster. The
form was more horrible in light than in
shadow. IL gained in size and ugliness
Try as the man would to fancy il some.
| thing else. there was no installing the
creature. Il was the terazula. Frank b
Willard in San Francisco Chronicle.
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