The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1898-06-29


beating fiercely down upon the ma .ses
OF volcanic rock that were strewn on a
hillside near Santiago de Cuba. The
few stuntcd palms that had gained a
foothold among the boulders we're
clothed with a dry, sapless, lustreless
foliage that intensified the parched and
barren appearance OF the immediate
Landscape. Not a breath of air was
stirring and the sultry heat seemed to
have destroyed all animate things. The
silence was that of death.
But, despite the oppressive heat, there
was life on that hillside. On the edge Of
fiat rock, more exposed to the heat
than the others, lay a lizard. He was
an inquisitive little reptile. Just now
his attitude is one Of lively curiosity
His body quiyers with suppressed ex-
element and his bead-like eyes fairly
blszs with interest. His attention is
fixed on the figure of a man, a human
being whose bare hands and feet are tied
tightly with rswhide thongs The man
is lying in recumbent position with his
naked back blistering in the sun. His
letters OF rawhide are so fastened to pegs
driven in the ground that he cannot
move an inch in any direction.
The man is mystery to the lizard. 1t
regards him as mere mountain OF q sh,
as an intruder whose helplessness re-
moves fear But close to the man, with
in an inch of his face, is another OH sct
that is more familiar to the liz ard 1t is
viper, that deadly Cuban serpent
known as the Ser de lance" 1t is barely
twenty inches in length and it's slim,
tapering body, beautifully marked, makes
it the embodiment Of sinuous grace. II
the snake is small, it is the most deadly
Of venemous reptiles.
Like the man, the viper is held pris-
oner. 1t is secured to peg. by a piece
OF a raw-hide thong attached to its tail,
in such way that it can only approach
to within an inch Of the mans face.
The sun continues to blaze with un-
abated fury and the lizard, no longer
curious, glides swiftly away to a crevice
in the rock, where the leaves OF a creep.
ing vine ford modicum OF shelter
The man groans. Tie skin on his
naked back is burned to livid red hue.
The blue trousers with white stripe
down the outside seam, that indicate the
wearer to be a Urited States infantry
man, protects the lower portion Of his
body. AS he groans, he strains at the
thongs that holds him captive, but they
only sink deeper and more cruelty into
his flesh.
He feels his helplessness and it fills
him with impotent rage. lie curses the
Spanish guerrilas that had surprised and
| captured him in the night while he was
doing picket duty on an advanced out
post beyond the lines of Gen. Skaters
army and had tied him in this manner
to die death that the brutal Apache
Indians on the Western plains would
consider inhuman. He curses himself.
In the meantime the viper, that lies
within an inch OF his face, becomes rest
less. Its basilisk eyes peer full into
those of the man. The serpent becomes
irritated. 1t misses and coils itself up
and springs again and again at the help
less soldier before it. 1t elects poisonous
venom from its fangs but, as it cannot
strike its victim, the deadly fluid is
harmless.
The day wears on and the man is con-
sumed with fiery thirst. His lips, his
tongue and his throat are parched. The
blood runs like fire through his veins.
He becomes delerious and in his pain
he cries out, with agonized voice, for
water. All is silent. Not even an echo
mocks him.
The evening comes and the fierce heat
of the day gives way to the dank, sultry
atmosphere of tropic night. Strange
nocturnal birds fit about and fill the
soldiers ears with their discordant
noises. Insects, with stings that seem
devlllsh In their capacity Tor lnHictlng
pain, alight on his unprotected back and
add to the already OVERT owing cup of
misery that is being drained to the dregs
by the unfortunate soldier. He has
learned ere this that cries and struggles
avail but little and he only gives ex-
preston to his poignant pain by groans,
All through the night he suffers. Oc-
casionally he raises his eyes when the
viper stirs uneasily and 10 his despera.
ton he strives to advance his head thu
one inch necessary to allow the snake to
strike him so that the poisonous fangs
would bring terrible, but speedy
death.
But his efforts to commit suicide are
thwarted by the tightness OF his bonds.