Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1902-12-18
Adventure with
a Fer-de=LanCe

Martinique and meet upwith that
there treasure was shorely unusual.
had been kiootin' round in Texas
and New Mexico Twin extremely
reckless-like, and the chance come
along TO see the outside world.
The chance was brought to me by
a Frenchman. He was foragin' round
lookin' for some real wild western
cowboys to take over to Paris for the
purpose of shown the French people
what reckless characters the Ameri-
cans was. Leastways that's how he
announced it when he got US over to
France. He took me an another
reckless individual named 'Arapahoe
A' along with him, and what we did
when we landed in Havre was a
plenty.
Y'see this Frenchy was purity gen
'rOus an the first night we rived in
land he commenced buyin' US absince.
Of course, that made me an Al just
like two bucllin' bronchos. We tore
round town rippin' up things and be-
in pursooed by these here gendarmes
till it seemed like all France was in
an uproar.
1 fn'lly loses Al an evades these
here pursooers by runnin' aboard a
ship. By this time 1 was back in my
right faculties, an fit to converse.
The head of this foatin' ranch he
comes an begins jabberin' French to
me a whole lot.
Then he confides that he's the own
er of the ship, an is maxim ready to
sail. 1 tells him of my stampede
with Al an he sympathizes and offers
to take me along with him.
Natchruly I'm glad for an oppor-
tunity to shake the dust of Paris off
my feet for the time bein' an tells
him I'll go.
Now this here owner is mighty
picturesque. He tells me that he's
a descendant of Capt. Kidd, an that
he knows a heap of things about his
ancestor that no one else ever
dreamed of. 1t took me several days
to learn all he had to tell. The thing
that weighed on his mind most wuz
that old Kidd had left in the family
a chart shown where he had put
lot of gold he took from some Span
iards.
This here gold that the pirates de-
scendaDt was worryin' bout was sup
posed TO be in cave somewhere on
Mount Pelee. Tn chart said it was
near a lake of hot water. Well, he
wants to sail to Martinique, find the
cave and get the gold. 1 let him
know right straight from the saddle
that I was with him in fndin' that
gold, and he got enthusiastic heap.
But it seems that the elements
were On the trail of this descendant
of tn mighty Kidd, for when we got
near Martinique, a storm come up
that wrecked tn ship. 1 fell into tn
seethin' waves helpless as a grain of
sand, an was preparin' to cash in my
stack an let tn sharks have tn pot
when chest come ficatin' to'rd me.
1t didn't come gentle like, either. 1t
come a rushin' an lassCed with my
hands all in hurry.
Then me an that chest went rO-
mancin' round in tn storm for two
days, when 1 was washed up Cd
shore. When daylight come L saw
big mountain near me and rightly
calculated it was old Pelee.
Some natives took me to their
ranch, staked me to some grub an
pulled me through. After I got
strong enough I opened the chest
just for fun, an found a lot of pa
pers, a six-shooter, an some French
coins. I give tn coins to tn greasers
an overlooked tn papers.
Then 1 commenced to think of that
there cave of gold, which was weigh
in on my mind whole lot. All I
knew was it was near a boilin' lake.
Tn natives told me where tn lake
was all right, but they didn't know
nothin' about a cave. They warned
me to mark that lake off my trail,
because they said these here fer-de-
lance snakes hung round it. didn't
set much in what they said bout
these snakes bein' deadly till I seen
sne of them tackle a native. 1t was
The first time ever laid eyes on one
an the scene that 1 witnessed made
me feel like diggin' right out of that
island.
took tn Six-shooter from tn
chest, polished it up till 1t glistened
fit to spoil your eyesight, an vowed
that 1 would go to that there cave
the next day. TIL natives began say
in prayers when 1 told 'em was
goIn' to the boilin' lake. 1 didn't let
on anything bout tn gold, an went
on my pilgrimage by myself.
OF course, KNOWN of the ungen-
tlemanly habits of this fer-de-lance,
l carried a stick along with me, an
also had the shipowner's six-shooter
for an emergency. That gun was
almost foot long, an tn way its
barrel radiated in the light of tn
sun was shorely a sight to behold.
hadn't paid much 'tenshun to it
'cept to stick some cartridges into
the chambers an admire tn bril-
liancy of tn barrel.
Fin'lly 1 come in sight of tn boil
in lake. This was the roundup place
for tn fer-de-lances. They were
gathered round it so thick that tn
shore looked like a movin' mass.
Never before in my experience with