Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-10-13
A MOVE MEANT DEATH
SUPERB NERVE VERSUS COLD LEAD
AND A CENTlPED'S POISON.
The Agonizing Experience of a New York
er Who Was Held Up by Bloodthirsty
Road Agents and who Thought For "a
While That His Ti,ne Had Come.

Road Agents and Who Thought For
While That His Ti,ne Had Come.
~ have been held up twice by road
agents, said New Yorker who has had a
wide range in the field of western expert
ence.
The first time | had to hold up my
hands, with the request that | keep them
up until further notice under penalty of
bullet through my heart if let even one
fall below my head, was down in New
Mexico. 1t was just after the war, and
party of us were on our way to Pueblo.
The United States mail coach was carrying
us to that place, and the general impress
sion in those days was that the overland
mail was generally loaded with valuable
matter. This seemed to have been the
| opinion of three enterprising citizens of New
| Mexico about that time, as we Learned
when the stage came to a sudden stop in
one of the widest spots in that country,
and the muzzles of three rifles appeared at
the stage windows, with rough and
tough looking man at the butt end of each
rifle.
lone of the men ordered us to tumble
out on the double quick We did not tres
pass even a little bit on the time of these
gentlemen, who seemed to be in a hurry
| but tumbled out at the word Then we
were ordered to stand in a line, front face
and close dress, and to hold our hands
above our heads, all of which was done
with military prOmptness. One of the three
bustling citizens was set to guard us to
whom the leader of the gang remarked:
BLOW hole that you can shove stove
pipe in through the first man that stirsl
Then the other two went to cutting open
the mailbags and rifing them. couldn't
tell how the pouches were pannng out, for
the rifling operation was out Of the range of
my vision, under orders as | was to preserve
rigid eyes 'front.' | guess we had stood
there five minutes, and the strained posi-
ton was beginning to tell on me, when
saw something as rolled my eyes toward
the ground that drove ali thought of heavy
and painful upheld arms ont of my head
Moving directly toward me, and not more
than yard away, was one of those terrOrs
of that region, cent ped This one was
hdeous looking fellow, at least inches
long. He kept straight toward me, and
never moved my eyes from him. He drew
nearer and nearer until he was at the very
tip of my shoe. didn't dare move, for
. knew the muZzle of Il derringer was only
rod away, ready to drive bullet through
my heart. The centiped stopped for d sec
ond or two when he came to my shoe and
then turned and passed on by. | raised my
eyes and breatned easier.
Il didn't dare turn my head, of course, to
see what direction the centped had taken,
and didn't need to, for suddenly felt
sensation, first at my ankle and then gradu.
ally passing up my leg, that made my blood
turn cold. The centiped had crept up ing
shoe at the instep and was even then climb
ing my leg under my trousers, There was
no installing the pricking of the long rows
of sharp claws rs the centiped worked his
way along my flesh. | knew that the least
movement | made would disturb the ven
/ OmOus climber, and he would instantly
sink every one of his numerous claws in my
flesh and squirt from each one its quota Of
deadly poison into my blood.
well, there stood, doubly held up, as it
were If | moved hand, the watching des-
perado would fill me with lead. If moved
a leg, the centiped would fill me with
poison. Slowly the terrible creature crept
up my leg, stopping now and then rs if pom
dering over his next movement and then
climbing on again, all the time leaving his
itching, burning track along my leg-some-
thing in itself almost intolerable.
Il did not know how soon the rascible,
creeping devil would take umbrage at some
thing in his course and vent his spite at it
by seeking his long row of stingers into my
flesh, and then the thought that the robbers
would soon be through with their work at
the stage and begin their search for our
personal belongings came with added ter
rors. In going through my clothes they
would of course disturb the centiped, and
that meant only one thing All could see
in the outlook for me was certain death,
whichever way | turned it over Yet kept
on hoping that the living Internal machine
in my trousers leg might take it into its
head to retrace its steps and come down TO
the ground again before anything happened
to disturb it.
ut crept along, turning when it reached
my waist and moving across my back to-
ward the other side. The nervous .ension
was terrible-a deadly creature liable at
any moment to bury its venomous claws in
my flesh, the muzze of Il pistol warning
me that instant death awaited my slightest
move. The centiped, although most de
liberate in its movements, reached my other
hip by and by and to my JOY started down
that leg Slowly he let himself down, and
so intense was my suspense in the hope
that he was on his way out by that route
that did not feel the burning track that
he had now put pretty much all around
me. He took his time and at last got
down to my knee. There he stopped
MY heart seemed throbbing in my very
throat and almost suffocated me. A mo-
ment later it seemed to quit beating alto
gether, and it was only by the most siren
uous assertion of my will that | saved my
self from falling limp to the ground. The
centiped had turned and was going up my
leg again.
II was almost on the point of dropping
my hands that a bullet might relieve me
la &c Z hot fri nj cit
when the capricious centiped turned and
started down again, moving with more
celebrity than he had used since he began
that appalling trip. don't know what
started him, but he kept up his run all the
rest of the way down my ley and presently
dropped to the ground and scurried away.
| just shut my eyes, gave one long breath
end was on the point of relieving my pent-
up feelings with a resounding YELL regard
less of consequences, when the tough and
watchful customer with the derringers ex
claimed: