The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1920-10-21
The Honor In
the Car
By ]. e. HUNeERFoRp

slSHeu COnlenIeuly. plncneu mySelI
to see IL il was meme I'm q cara OF
bananas. II was me, and there were
the bananas, sack upon sack OF them
piled three-fourths of the way to the
ceiling.
1t was kind OF close quarters for
solid comfort, but as long as I could
eat-eat beautifully, luxuriously, IN
stintedly, l sure didn't have any kick
coming. Then i thought OF the seal
clerk with the spectacles, and laughed
as / reflected how I'd crawled under
the car from the off side, with him not
ten feet away. Well, I had beat him
to 1t. 1 was sealed i'm. and hoboing
had its soft spots after all.
Everything was so comfortable that
began to cast around for objections.
l found one. II was cold in that car,
darned cold, and | proceeded to turn
up my coat collar and snuggle cozily
Between two sacks. must have laid
there at least three minutes before ii
occurred to me chat was hungry.
Think of It, three whole minutes in
car of bananas, and not realize
you're hungry! Well, anyhow, ] got
my knife to work and ripped open a
sack inNa jiffy. was pirate all right.
Who wouldn't have been a pirate?
IL was hours later and I'd trans
ferred my attention to another bunch
No, / hadn't finished the first sack
it was mostly green, but I'd made a
praffy oaad-ci1ad oparf,ro q, .ln ca,
ond when my knife slipped from my
fingers. .-.
fished around in my pockets and
dug up match. 1t was the last match
had. lit it with some reluctance and
held it far down, but the knife had
clean vanished
As was transferring the burnt end
to my left hand to prolong its life,
happened to glance at the rent had
made in the g1nny sack, and, as did
so. sat bolt upright, nearly butting a
hole through the roof. There-not two
feet from my face-was big, hideous,
hairy creature. about the size of sill
yer dollar.
For second sat staring at IL,
transfixed. The match scared my fin
gers, fiickered, and went out, and then
suddenly i came to my senses and be-
gan to crawl. ] fed, terror-stricken,
to the doors and threw my weight
against them. beat and pounded them
frantically. bumped and tore around
over those sacks like a man bereft Of
reason, and then, as the full realiza-
tion OF my position forced itself upon
me, screamed at the top Of my voice.
thought of all the stories i had
heard and read Of tarantulas, and as
they stood out vividly, every miserable,
soul-racking detail of them, was wild
with horror. didn't have a chance
against that thing there In the dark 1t
might even now be making its way
stealthily toward me.
/ pulled myself together and rolled
over into a corner, weak and shiver-
Ing. Then the thought that there might
be others-others right where was
lying, brought me to my knees again
with groan Of despair. There must
be othersl There were others! A cold
sweat stood out on my body, and
knelt there bereft Of every atom CO
manhood, quaking and covering In tho
dark.
Through the vortex Of my emotions
there came suddenly q new impression
the sensation as Of something crawl
Ing. 1t was nothing definite, but IT
was intensely real. Something was
crawlingl Crawling slowly and me.
thodically up my left legl No, il was
my right leg! Again il was my left
leg! I started to reach for it, then
suddenly stopped, my arm poised rig
idly. If did reach-it! touched IL, IL
would sting-sting quickerl,
! sat there in an agony of suspense.
waiting for 1t to strike. Waiting
waiting-waiting for an eternity, but
1t didn't strike! 1t had even ceased
crawling.
I chuckled softly, then laughed.
was going insane. / reached down sud.
denly and clapped my hand over the
spot where the crawling had ceased,
but there was nothing. I ran my hand
over my entire body, still there was
nothing.
felt sick and faint, and leaned
wearily against the car wall AS did
SO, my face touched something cold
cold and clammy and soft. / started
back screaming, then i laughed again
II was insane.I had leaned agains.
my own hand.
To assure myself OF this. for l. was
sure of nothing, / ran my palm slowly
along th& splintered surface Of the
wall. and then with howl OF terror /
rolled over on the sacks.
had touched something hairy
something soft-something- I sat up
with an impelling desire to reach out
again. I could stand the torture no
longer. i wanted to know where
stood. / wanted fighting chance.
had suddenly lost all sense of fear.
Ny nerves We're strung to the snap
ping point. / CROPPED my hand along
the wall, up and down and sideways.
There was nothing-nothing
1t was another prank Of the imagina-