The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-04-08

- L. GAAd I
ana compass. The lantern carried be-
! him was the only one allowed to
the company The rest of US came
stumbling after as best we could. Four
men made shift TO carry the grand in
quisltor IN a kind of litter. VIII and 1
were a chained TO a veteran of the
island wars.
1t was indeed well that we had land
Cd Tar down the desert side of the isle.
Ior the large company, most Of them
quite unaccustomed TO the high woods.
the dead.
Huge blackberry briers tore our h
clothes as We entered what appeared a
very cave Of darkness. Men stumbled
ahead OF us, falling over PROSTATE
trunks with the rattle of accoutrements.
and Receiving themselves with strange
OdIhS. Tan tree moaned overhead.
Llanas ereaked like cordage between
us and the roof of leaves. Invisible
thlngs threw themselves from strand
10 swinging strand. From beneath our
ieet came the rustic and hiss of dis
turped snakes, and as often as a bough
scLatched my face I could have cried
oul, Tor L felt IN every thorn prickIe the
dreadful flashing stroke of the fer-de-
lance.
And ever in front of US pulsed. clearer
ana broader, that strange ruddy light.
against which the leaders of our ad-
vance stood out black. Sometimes dur
ing a halt 1 could see Saul Mark. his
cnart spread on a fallen tree, Eborra
was at his elbow, the lantern in his
hand and the iron hook pointing out
something on the map.
Then in a moment we would be called
forward again. Often I could not hear
the whispered order, but each OF our
guards simultaneously gave a tug at
the ehaln by which they held US in
leash. And once, as Will did not move
tast enough, the brute promptly set
the point of a knife to his back and
pricked him sharply with it. I could
see VIII turn white with anger. In a
moment he would have been at the
fellows throat, but 1 caught him by
the arm.
Wait" I said, eff We paw at all. let
US pay u debts at one settlement"
The fellow with the knife hourished
II oyer his head and for pure deviltry
would ave pricked Will with il again.
but at that moment the red glow Shone
out K sheet-lightning and against it
l saw momentarily something dart.
black n straight as an arrow. The
next moment Wills guard uttered a
terrible scream and dropping his arms
ne pressed his palms to his face, with
SnFlek after Shrek of pain and terror
Saul Mark looked back quickly.
Gag that mani" he commanded. "He
VIII bring every pirate in the isle upon
us?'
In a moment Eborra was beside US.
He carried the lantern. I saw him
stoop 10 the man on the ground and
turn his head with his iron hook. VIII
and L were standing quite close. Will
indeed still chained to the soldier. By
the light of Eborra's lantern we could
see two tiny punctUres behind the ear
n the great vein OF the neck is.
"The man is dead" said Eborra,
standing up, "Fer-de-lance has strick-
en- him"
And so It proved, for while flourish
ing the knife over his head to threaten
VIII he must have touched the branch
on which h snake lay.
Then a great fear fell on all the COM
ANY. 1t began to be whispered what
the man was doing when the serpent
struck him.
whispered to the half caste, "he may
strike again"
No" he said in a similar tone, this
IS no living snake, Philip. Fer-de-lance
does not strike at night. This is a jombi
that enters the body of a snake to
strike down his enemy. Do not be
aIrald-my mother is working great
Obeah for you now. The jombis are all
about US. They viii protect your
And indeed it is true that we did feel
all about US the sense of invisible pres
ences- Yet the sensation was no pleas
urable one. but rather as if some one
unseen were about to put his hand on
your shoulder in the dark.
At this moment Saul Mark ordered
VIII to be chained 10 another armed
guard. They cas- the dead man loose.
(He died while we stood looking.
strangely c0ntorted and of a viaage
that blackened under our very eyes.)
Forward" commanded Saul, lead
on, Yellow Jack, if you know the way.
There is not a moment to waste. 1t will
soon be morning"
Then Eborra summoned to the front
all the blacks and Indian laborers and
serfs TO bring their machetes and cut a
way through the tangle. He himself held
aloft the lantern and directed them.
II was a strange sight, the red throb-
bing glow going and coming like a fur
mace that dies out and Is continually
refreshed. The dense blackness of the
canopy Of leaves overhead enveIoped
us. The waste OF hanging vegetable
cordage seemed trying to entangle US
III anu 4A0i4AACS 4lhG nUSG ndhEGI =
and cables, others again thin as trout
lines. AS the light of the lantern
flashed across these other plants were
seen clinging to them as the mistletOe
does TO an apple tree in the orchard at
New Milns-rosettes Of gorgeous bloom.
iaring red and white and orange even
in that somber light, some tied like
favors on the lianaS. others dropping
Unexpectedly from above like a spider
letting himself down Out OF the midst
Of his web.
In this place the machetes made fierce
play. Hack and slash and cut they
went Green fruits, strange and leath-
ern apples, horny plums like musket
balls, insects like walking tWigS, vast
spiders with legs that burnt as they
touched the bare skin, hairy caterpil-
lars as big as bean pods rained down
upon our head. But still Eborra has
tened the work, and we made our way
toward the source of the light.
We rose gradually as we proceeded.
passing the great swamp by a firmer
path than that which We had formerly
crossed from the direction OF the pirate
village. A soft steamy mist. impreg-
mated with a sulphurous smell, swelled
and billoWed about US.
Suddenly out of the dense shadows
and creeping vapors Of the high woods
we emerged upon a wonderful scene.
Before US Ose a great black hill, in
shape most like the Law Of North Ber-
wick - from the shoulder of Moor
foot; but it was not the hollow tower
we had seen. The dense underground,
the matted carpet of moss and wild
hemp, the quaking hill-all had van
ished. There was a hot and deadly
faint in the air which kept US gasp
ing. Our mouths became dry as the
dead bones of the desert with the thin
sandy grit hat showered upon us and
seemed to pervade everything. crunch
ing hetWep our teeth as we walked