The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-11-06
The Horror in
the Car
(Copyrixht.)
BY J. :. HUNcERFoRD

sighed contentedly. / pinched myself
to see II 1t was meme In a car of
bananas. II was me. and there We're
the bananas. sack upon sack of them
piled three-fourths of the way to the
Ceiling.
II was kind of close quarters far
solid comfort. but as long as l could
eat-eAt bountifully. 1uxuriously, un-
stintedly. 1 sure didn't have any kick
coming. Then thought Of the seal
clerk with the spectacles. and laughed
~ I reflected how I'd crawled under
the car from the OF side. with him not
ten feet away. Well. had beat him
TO II. was sealed In. and hObOing
had Its soft spots after all.
Everything was SO comfortable that
{ began to cast around for objections.
] found one. 1t was cold In that car,
darned cold. and I proceeded to turn
up my coat collar and snuggie cozily
between two sacks. I must have laid
there at least three minutes before 1t
occurred to me that was hungry
Think of It, three whole minutes In
n car OF bananas. and not realize
you're hungry! Well. anyhow, l got
my knife to work and ripped open a
sack in a jiffy. was pirate all right.
Who wouldn't have been pirate?
II WAS hours later. and I'd trans
ferred my attention to another bunch.
No. I hadn't finished the first sack
II WAS mostly green, but I'd made q
pretty goodsized aperture In the Sec
ond when my knife slipped from my
fingers.
fished around In my pockets and
dug up u match. II was the last match
] had. lit II with same reluctance and
held II far down. but the knife had
Glenn vanished.
As was transferring the burnt end
tO my left hand to prolong Its life.
happened to glance at the rent l had
made In the gunny sack, and. as l did
10. ! sat bolt upright, nearly butting
hole through the roof. There-nst two
feet from my face- was a big. hideous.
hairy creature. about the size of n sill
yer dollar.
For second sat staring mt II.
transfixed. The match scared my fin
Aft@s anu went Out, unu IIlPU
suddenly l came to my senses and be-
gan to crawl. fed. terror.stricken.
TO the doors and threw my weight
agninst them. beat and pounded them
fraDticaily. bumped and tore around
over those sacks like q man bereft Of
reAs0u. and then. rs the full realixa.
ton Of my position forced itself upon
me. screamed at the top OF my voice.
thought of all the stories had
heard and read Of tarantulas. and as
fi,~y atOOd out vividly. every miserable.
CONTRACTING detail Of them. was wild
with horror. didn't have q chance
axainst that thing there In the dark. 1t
0txht even now be making Its way
stsaltisiiy toward me.
! pulled myself together and rolled
over into . corner. weak and shiver-
Ing. Then the thought that there might
Be others-others right where I was
lying. brought me to my knees again
with q groan Of despair. There must
be others! There were others! A cold
sweat stood out ON my body, and I
knelt there bereft of every atom of
manhood, Quaking and covering In the
dark.
Through the vortex Of my emotions
there came suddenly 4 new Impression
-the sensation as of something crawl
Ing. It was nothing definite. hut II
was intensely real. Something was
crawling! Crawling slowly and me
thodically up my left leg! No. 1t was
my right leg! Again II was my left
leg. started to reach for 1t. then
suddenly stopped. my arm poised rig
Idly. II did reach-it! touched II, II
would sting-sting quicker!
sat there In an agony of suspense
waiting for 1t to strike. Waiting
waiting-waitine. for an eternity, bu,
II didn't strike! 1t had even ceased
crawling.
chuckled softly. then I laughed.
ws~ going insane. reached down sud
denly and elapped my hand over the
: SPOT where the crawling had ceased
bat there was nothing. ran my hant
over my entire body. still there wa.
nothing.
I felt sick and faint, and Leaned
wearily against the car wall As die
20. my face touched something cold
cold and clammy and soft. started
back screaming. then l laughed agar
II was insane-I had leaned against
my own hand.
To assure myself of this. for I was
sure of nothing, ran my palm slowl.
along the splintered surface of the
wall. and then with howl of terror
rolled over on the sacks.
I had touched something hairy
SomethinR soft-something- sat uT
with an impelling desire to reach oui
again. could stand the torture nc
longer. wanted to know where
stood. wanted q fighting chance.
had suddenly lost all sense of fenr