Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-01-30

Come here, be shouted; come ans
see what ] have found
] followed the sound OF his voice
and found him not very far from th,
camp. He was standing and staring a
something that lay stretched TOWARD
him on the ground in a movingtwis
ed mass. thought he had shot some
thing and hurried to see what i
could be.
what is it7 l asked.
The serpent vineI was his repl,
"lt must be that. Solomon did no
lie after ALL"
l gazed at the thing, fascinated, fol
| saw that it was indeed a vine tha
grew from the ground there amid tn,
rank growing things CT the swamp
It lay stretched toward my cousin
seeming to reach out and grasp fol
him, but he was safe beyond its touch
1t twisted and twined like mass o.
serpents, and l felt my heart grow
sick and faint as looked.
Come closer, cried Paul. III can,
not reach beyond It's length.
He drew me nearer, and then, of {
sudden, with strong thrust he sent
me reeliug and shrieking fairly amid
that mass of,writhing things. In tht
twinkllng of an eye they had collet
about my legs, and l could not break
away, although l desperately strovs
to do so.
Paul, Paul, save mel
My answer was mocking laugh.
Save mel l painted again.
Save your returned my couslr
scornfu!ly. 4 brought you here fol
thisl / hate you. l swore that one
of US should never leave this swamp
alive. You miserable little Yankee
What right'have you to come here
from the north and displace me in
my uncle's affections? If it were moi
for you he would leave me every
thing when he dies. You are sneak
and coward, but I have brought
you to your death here, although my
hands shall not he stained. The SER
pent vine will do the work for me.
Good-by, cousin mine--good-b -byp
Unheeding my cries and entreaties,
he turned and hurried away, disap-
pearing in the direction of the camp.
was left alone-left to die in the
clutch Of the horrid vine that was
twining about my legs and creeping
up, up, up. / fought it off, shriek-
ed, shouted, I called to Paul, pray.
ed. 1t seemed that was in the grasp
of that thing for hours, and yet l had
beaten and torn it off so that it had
not reached my neck.
All at once dark figure glided to.
ward me from the shadow of the for
est.
PAUL. I gasped-'you have come
back to save me, Paul! l knew you
could not let me die thusp
Paul gone. / hear you cry-I
come.
1t was Solomon!
To this day I know not how he re-
leased me from that horrid vine. |
know that he gave me his knife and
said cut off the arms that were twir-
ed about me, and know that one of
my hands he grasped, as he sought to
draw me from the clutch of the mons
ter. Between us we triumphed, and ]
fell fainting to the ground, to be drag.
ged still farther away by the faithful
Indian.
AS | was slowley recovering,
great cry rang through the swamp,
cry that brought me to my feet, quiv-
ering with fresh excitement.
Did you hear it Solomon asked.
me hear, he replied. Come on
We went toward the camp. AS we
cane near we saw that Paul had gath
cred up the outfit and carried it down
to the boat, which still swung on the
bosom of the dead water, held fast
by the mooring line. My cousin had
not gone.
No, he had not gone. Beneath the
trees near the waters edge a dark
form dangled above the earth. I
would have rushed up. but Solomon
held me back.
'Look!' he said. The end has come!
The snake vine was not to be cheated
this time
But the tree my cousin-he is
hanging
The snake vine climbs trees to find
food; look near root of tree. See it
grows there-see, it run up trunk
out on limb. It is round his neck,
and he is dead already'
1t was true. In passing beneath
that tree Paul-had been clutched by
the dangling vine. One cry was all
that ever came from his lips for the
serpent vine quickly choaked him to
silence.
1t was retribution swift and sure.
but such a death seemed none theless
terrible to me that it destoyed one
who doomed me to like fate short
time before.
One of US would not leave the
swamp alive.