Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1901-10-29

for these Dangerous Lands are the
abode of the lizards, which of all
beasts grow to the most enormous
size, and are the most fearsome to
deal with.
There are countless families and
species of these lizards, and with some
of them a man can contend with pros
pect of success. But there are 9TH
ers whose hugeness no human force
can battle against. One saw, as it
came up out of lake after gaining
its days food, that made the wet land
shake and pulse as It trod. 1t could
have taken Phorenice's mammoth into
its belly,~ and even mammoth in full
charge could not have harmed 1t.
Great horny plates covered its head
and body, and on the ridge of It's back
and tail and limbs were spines that
tore great slivers from the black trees
as It passed among them.
Now and again these monsters
would get caught in some vast fssur-
ing OF the ground, but not often.
Their speed Of foot was great, and
their sagacity keen. They seemed to
know when the worst boilings OF the
mountains might be expected, and
then they found safety in the deeper
lakes. OF buried themselves In wallows
OF the mud. Moreover, they were
more kindly constituted than man to
Withstand one great danger Of these
regions. In that the heat Of the wa
ter did them no harm. Indeed, they
will lie peacefully in pools where sud
den stream-bursts are making the wa
ter leap into boiling fountains; and
have seen one run quickly across a
flow of molten rock which threatened
to cut 1t off, and not be SO much as
singed in the transit.
In the midst of such neighbors, then,
was my new life thrown. and exist
ence became perilous and hard to me
from the outset. Icame near to know
ing what fear was, and indeed only
q fervent trust in the most high gods,
and a firm belief that my life was al
ways under their fostering care. pre-
vented me from gaining that horrid
knowledge. For long enough, till 1
learned somewhat OF the ways of this
steaming, sweltering land, was in
as miserable case as even Phorenice
could have wished to see me. My
clothes rotted from my back with the
constant wetness, till went as naked
as q savage from Europe; my limbs
were racked with agues, and could
find no herbs to make drugs for their
relief; for days together could find
no better food than trea-grubs and
leaves; and often when I did kill
beasts, knowing little Of their quail
ties. ate those that gave me pain and
| sickness.
But as man Is born to make himself
adaptable to his surroundings, SO as
the months dragged on did / learn
the limitation of this new life of mine,
and gather some knowledge Of Its
resources. AS example: found a
great black tree, with hollow core,
and hole into its middle near the
roots. Here I. harbored, till one night
| some monstrous lizard, whose sheer
weight made the tree rock like sap
ling, endeavored to suck me forth as
| bird picks worm from a hollow
log. escaped by the will of the gods
II could as much have done harm to
q mountain as injure that horny
tongue with my weapons-but gave
myself warning that this chance must
not happen again.
So cut myself ladder OF foot,
holes on the inside of the trunk till
had reached point ten man-heights
from the ground, and there cut other
notches, and with tree-branches made
. floor on which might rest. Later
for luxury, I carved me arrow-slit
windows in the walls of my chamber
and even carried up sand for hearth
30 that might cook my victual uE
there instead Of lighting fire in al
the dangers Of the open below.
By degrees, too, began to find how
the large-scaled fish of the rivers an6
the lesser turtles might be more rap
idly captured, and so my ribs threat
ened less to start through their prop
er covering of skin as the days wen
on. But the lack Of salads and cruel:
] could never overcome. All the greer
meat was tainted so powerfully will
the taste of tars that never could
force my palate to accept it. And O.
course, too, there remained the peri
OF the greater lizards and the othe1
dangers native to the place.
But as the months began to noun
into years. and the brute part of my
nature became more satisfied, thert
came other longings which it was les
easy to provide for. From the ivor,
OF riyer-horse's tooth had endeav
ored to carve me representation o
i Mails as last had seen her. But
though my fingers might be loving an,
my will good, my art was Of the dull
est, and the splt--though I trie'
1 time and time again-was Away
| clumsy and pitiful. Still, in my eye
it carried some suggestion of the origi
nal-a curve here, an outline there
and it made my old love glow aney
within me as I sat and ate 1t with M
eyes. Yet it did little to satisfy M
longings for the woman had lost
I rather IT whetted my cravings to b
with her again, or at least to hav
some knowledge of her fate.
| Other men of the Priests olan hav
come out and made an abode in thes
Dangerous Lands, and by mortifyini
the flesh have gained an intimac
with the higher mysteries which ha
carried them far past what mere hu
man learning and repetition coul
teach. Indeed, here and there one