The Washington times., 1910-05-08
lyTEnt 1910 D ne AEIocfated IEierary Press IN n

! on prospecting trips ana had some great
stories TO tell.
That surely was wild country on
one trip Jack went with two other
prospectors and STAYED a long time In
the desert They hid lot Of queer
adventures The desert is fun OF rat
tiers and scorpions ami tarantulss and
liza rds Now and then YOU come across
a ella monster. A fellow may get
over a rattIesnake strike or anything
else. but when a monster once sets MS
fangs into you-good-by- There Isn't a
chance for life
The CHA monster is an ugly looking
thing like a lizard-a Dig hzard. ABOUT
q foot and a half long. KS 2 sol :
slippery sort OF thing, all but the mead,
and there IL has sci or Jaws JIfdl
close on YOU ike the IA Of Swapping
turtle. The worst thing about the Cha
monster is that you don't see II 4nLit
you step on II. and then it's 100 iale-
A man might haev a chance 10 stamp
on a ella monster on hard ground
just bare chance TO stamp and XII II
for IL isn't as quick IN striking as a
rattlesEake- But the worst thing ABOUT
the ella monster is that IL hides II
lies in the warm. dry sand, just covered
over. When you step on Il the lnliis
rolls under you IN the soft sand, and
IFS head twists around and the bea K
closes on your foot. Then the ella
monster begins shooting poison IN
through its fangs- II keeps on shooting
poison while il holds on tight with It's
beek. There's no escape You can
smash the soft body. but the head keeps
its grip. In a few moments the poison
has done its work and you're as dead as
a nail
ella Monsters Work
Brother Jack and his friends cav an
example Of the ella monsters work
out on the desert He and Billy Nor
gan. game warden in Los Angeles. were
together. II was a red hot day and
everything was all blurred and shift
ing IN mirage The glare from the sun
shining on the white sand was binding.
As Billy Morgan and Jack went along
they saw q black spot on the sand a
little way OF 10 one side Wondering
what sort OF an animal had wandered
away out there to die Of thirst IN the
desert they turned from their trail 70
find out
The object was the sun-dried body Of
a naked Indian. baked black and hard
by the terrific neat. All around IL the
sand was ira implied and full Of deep foot
prints where the Indian had made a
desperate fight for his life. A dead ella
monster had its fangs sunk In one OF
smashed and STAMPED 10 pieces. but the
jaws held their grim grip The Indian
had died before he could ply them
away For al know. the Indian IS
the CHA monster fast 10 his foot Things
Ike that last forever away down IN the
desert they say
Jack said that he had an uneasy day
or two after seeing that Indian Every
time his foot slipped he thought he was
stepping on a ella monster He wouldn
he much better or than the barefooted
Indian IL that happened. a monster
can bite through a cOwhide boot as Z
30 was nothing more than an appetizer.
A Trescherous Animal
10 ella monsters for me A rattle
snake Is q gentleman beside that sort
q reptile A RATHER usually -attles. Il
you give him time. But a rattler can
make you jump far enough I remem-
Der one day when was riding out on a
hunting trip and had a little experience
iH that line We were going along a
narrow trail Besi5e the trail there was
q pile Of redwood posts as high as my
shoulder I was inst riding along slowly
when out OF the corner OF my eve Sa v
something move on top OF the post pile
about two feet from NY face 7 turned
my head quickly and there was one OF
the biggest rattlesnakes ever saw