The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-03-06

Adventurs with . 1Inn-Eatlne
Tee b Central Afnerica


/ line II : projected railroad. one Of
those railroads which are built 90
/ paper alone Il las never ret mate
Rallied While The line was being
RIM made the acquaintance q an
American citizen who was the owner 81
: large eUfIee plantaticr. and BE To-
vited me 70 send some time with him
aeeepted. ard IL little while 8 mn
tnal friendship sprang up between "a
The result YVES that before the time
came FOR my departure - told ne that
Il was necessary Tor him 10 ray visit
% his Old home ID Ohio with bis wife.
10 settle up some legal busEnexs. and
be bad been trying 70 find some one
who could take charge 81 his plantation
dnFing bis Absence fIe urged me tc
take III position, end accepted. An
other week found me 81 The head 81
one of the hnesa coffee plantations ii
Nicaragua
My duties were light enough. Bland
had a competent general manager. and
about AL that had 10 DO vas 10 act ~
tic rosscf behind the throne Ia THE
masters absence had but one dif.
acuity during this time. The manager.
Cuban named CaFIinoa. WAS popular,
with the Iaborers. and all went smooi b
u until one day ! Mexican, Michael
Fcrrara positively refused 70 obey
some order that Carlin0s hnd given
him. and rarlinos appealed to me.
Upon investigation calmly told the
Mexiean either 10 obey orders Of VI
leave the place With i sidelong segsyI
AZ Carsinos and myself he did what
the manager had commanded, aud tie
storm seemed to have blown over, but
did not feel quite confident about It'll
The Mexicans look tr0tibled me and
mentioned il 10 cnxlinos, but hc treated
tbs matter lightly and was inclined %
b seornfuI III regard 10 Ferrara he
Is i coward. he said, Struggling his
shoulders, and 80 dismissed the matter
I let the subject drop, ashamed RI
seeming afraid IF man whom this
slender Cuban regarded with such dis
dain. and got could have sworn that
when | walked that night, startled 1T
soEae slight noise on the terrace out
side my window, II was Ferrara's dark
face saw 10 the moonlight peering ID
al me. III nn instant II was gone, and
| was out Of the room, running along
the terrace, searching here and there.
But no, though gave the terrace a
thorough search. and even went around
N The end IL the house and the grove
lof banana trees beyond, saw nothing
fnoging anywhere save an owl that
fitted ont Of the trees. went back
/ ID my room concluding THAT had
7 dreamed the whole affair.
The next morning felt quite sure Of
4 IL ! met Ferrara several times In the
K course Of the day. and he was especial
| III pleasant He was better educated
/ than tile majority Of his class, and his
/ position on the plantation gave him q
kind Of precedence over the others. !
was near him several times before the
4. day was over. and | noticed that on
| each occasion be took pains TO speak
I pleasantly and greet me with his most
courteous smile. thought he was sorry
for the bad temper he had shown the
day before. didn't know him as wen
then as do now
/ The next day cariinos and | had de-
cided upon hunt In the mountains
! that made Jagged outline against the
sky on to the south. While we were
1 getting guns and cartridges into con-
+ dition for use, Ferrara approached and
i said in his smoothest tones:
III the seniors went to the valley,
down beyond the Contadino pass, they
would find where a great panther
roams, and has been seen many times
q ! myself saw 1t but two days ago, bu,
was unarmed, SO put spurs TO my
horse and galloped away"
carlinos turned 10 me with o look 81
interest That's good idea. he said
"We'n look for the panther first. and
II we fail to find him we can try the
mountains. =
II We were about TO turn away wher
Tcrrara stopped rs, with many apol-
ogiex Beyond the Contadino pass, .
he said, you will find narrow trai
leading of eastward down the valley
Follow that trail half mile, until yor
see huge white cliff, hundred yard,
Il to the right At the foot Of that cliff
the panther has been seen again and
Il again. Adios, senorsp'
Il And so Cariinos and went walking
Of, with swinging stride. toward the
pass, glad Of day in the woods, and
ready for any adventure that came
along.
+ Except the one that actually die
come. For within the next hour wi
passed through the most horrible ex.
perience that ever fell to the lot Of NOR
tails am sure.
Il We found the pass--a mere gap II
the mountains. not used for travel. 4.
another pass, few miles further
south, furnished the nearest road K
I, the town. The pass was strewn will
rough powders and jagged masses o.
rock, difficult to make ones way over
! and for half an hour we had all the ex
ercise we needed ID climbing over and
around these distractions At last
however, we were clear OF them, and
we shouldered our guns again after /
brief rest. and went on until we found
the trail among the bushes 1t wa
such path as would be made by cow
or sheep, going to and from watering
place, and was going along, paying
very little attention to II, when Car
limos, who was in the lead. suddenly
stopped and muttered: That Is yer1
strange.
looked oyer his shoulder. and Their,
In the yellow sand Was the barcfoo
track Of a man. We easily traced i
along downltlie trail for several hun
dred yards, and then ii suddenly dis
, appeared. a. though the owner Of ID.
II track had turned of into the thicl
-, 4--..-A,.,4S. W. t,,4t. ES,lY5.,.,a5 IL -.