El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-07

| a snaue LnaL was pleasing anu gloomy.
Now, when about to cross what
| seemed a hole or hollow in the jun
gle, by stepping from the strong ten
! drill of one creeper to another, naked
arm and great human hand came up
from amid the mass of leaves.
| 1 was seized by the right foot, and
in an instant found myself dragged
down through the foliage and inter-
twisted plants down-down-I knew
not where; and before 1 had time or
breath to cry or resist, lay PROSTATE
on my back in a hole-a lair under
the matted jungle-with a man above
me, his knees planted on my breast,
his strong hands upon my bare throat,
and his fierce wild eyes glazing like
those of a hyena into mine.
Then, how terrible were my emotions
on recognizing in the light that fell
through the mass of foliage above, as
through a vine-covered trellis-now
overspread with hair, as beard and
whiSkerS were all matted into a mass
the dark and ferocious face of An
tonic, whom I believed to be drowned
and lying at the bottom of the sea-
Antonio ell Cubani!
"Silenzio!' said he, in a low voice,
like the hiss of a serpent in my ear;
but the Injunction was unnecessary,
for so completely was I taken by sur
prise-so utterly at his mercy, and SO
destitute alike of breath or weapon
that resistance was impossible.
Perceiving that I was almost stran-
gled he relaxed his fierce grasp a lit
tie, but still kept the sharply prick
ing point of his knife at my throat
as a hint to remain quiet.
1t would be impossible for me to de-
scribe the emotions of my soul dur
ing this time, which seemed an eter-
nifty to me! Utter fear was one, for
thought the fellow had something su-
pernatural- something truly demon
about him; that he could neither be
drowned nor destroyed; and lay still
in that dark hollow. painting in his
fierce clutch without a thought of re-
siStance
Now 1 heard my name shouted re-
peatedly.
"Rodney-Mr. Rodney-Dick Rod
ney-where are your
1t was Tom Lambourne and others,
my companions, who had now attained
the summit of the rock, and were
scrambling over the jungle, and push
ing between the stems of the bananas,
searching for me, rather than for the
first object of such mystery.
My disappearance alarmed them.
Can he have gone adrift over the
bluff 1 heard Tom Lambourne say.
or is he only having a game with us
by hiding HIMSELF"
"Oh, yes!-that is it, replied Pro-
bart, the carpenter; "he can't have
gone aloft into one Of these bananas,
for they are as clear of branches as a
spare topmast; so let us sheer off to
the mate, and Mr.. Rodney will soon
come down after u.s.
well, my lads, there are neither
wild men nor wild beasts here" said
Lambourne! so we shall return back
to Master Hislop, who is hanging in
the wind halfway down, and then be
Off to the hut. We've earned a stiff
glass of greg by this bout, anyhow
My emotions became almost suffocat-
ing when 1 heard them turn away to
descend and rejoin Hislop without me-
1 saw and heard them pass and re-
pass over US, the creepers of the jun
gle yielding their weight
The leg and foot of one, named Hen
~ WdTTeH, CAME GOWN through the
green network of leaves and actually
touched me.
1 drew a long, gasping breath, and
the atrocious Cubano, believing 1 was
about to cry aloud, compressed my
throat so tightly with his muscular
hands, that thousand lights seemed
to flash before my eyes, and l must
have become senseIess for some min
utes, as the next incident that dwells
in my memory is seeing him sitting in
a crouching attitude, with his elbows
on his knees; his black bearded chin
resting in the hollow of his right hand
and with his knife-his murderous
Albacete cuchillo-clenched in his
white teeth, while he surveyed me
with a strange and sardonic smile in
his deeply-set black eyes, which gilt
tered like those of snake in the rays
of sunlight that struggled through the
woven roof of leaves about us.
l heard no more the voices of my
shipmates. They were gone, and l was
left alone and unarmed with this man
or devil-as yet l knew not which he
was; but L knew that if he had the will
he had assuredly the power, to kill and
leave me in his lair, or to cast me, a
mangled heap, to the bottom of the
cliff whereupon he lurked.
CHAPTER XXXIII.