Daily Kennebec journal., 1922-02-06
Stranger Vine
Kills Big Tree

On the hanks OF the San Carlos
river n giant ccdrcla had pushed his
towering trunk 800 feet above the
tanglc Of the swoltcrins evergiadc. e
From his loft eminencc he looked
down into the sea of tropical verdure
beneath. And his soul was tranquil.
his heart was uuafraid.
Patiently. persistently, year after
year, he had fought the jungle. TIL he
found the sky line. He was satisfied
with nature, with destiny. with HIM
self. His position was assured aad
unassailable.
And 1t came to pass one day that .
tiny seed fell into the corpse of . par
rot and was fertiiixcd. And from that
tiny seed thin. green thread OF hn-
est silk peeped out among the but-
trcssed roots that. like wooden walls,
anchored The giant Cedrela to the
bedrock.
The tender. graceful threads. push
ing tentatively upward from the soft
mush OF the jungle, found the new,
warm, moist world above . goodiy
place to live in. Suppliant and un-
certain as babies fingers, they sought
support from the iron trunk roots OF
the monarch.
But the huge Cedrela felt nothing
OF the baby fingers fumbling at his
feet in the neither twilight Of the
reeking underground.
Yet, wherever they touched they
clung, and wherever they cIung they
climbed, and wherever they climbed
they never let loose.
The 1.-THE Llama was dissatisfied
with nature. with destiny. with her
self. She was hut the sport growth
Of a passing whim and she hated her
dependence.
Ey'and by the big Cedrela felt .
strange. new warmth pulsing through
all his being. And behold. the 100
sturdy feet OF gaunt, bare trunk that
supported his green crown was hare
no longer; but draped, festooned and
garlandcd with a delicious emhroid-
cry, exquisite to the eye and COM
forting to the touch.
The soul OF the Cedrela gIowed
with his new triumph and a creeping
content was born in the heart OF the
Llama.
But now the first fine tendrils OF the
vine were thick as whipcord and taut
as violin strings. And the Llama
climbed and grew and grew and
climbed till the fossy foliage reached
the shoulders OF the giant; and
whenever his green head bowed in
the summer pieeZs the 1.-THE Llama
leaped t kiss the swa,in9 twigs and
leaves. And wherever they kissed
they killed.
so at last, a haunting doubt found
Judgement in the soul OF the Cedrels.
For as soon as the Llama reached
the goal of his emerald crown the
tendrils around his trunk dropped
their soft disguise. And when the
disguise was thrown Off the whip
cords turned into steel cables. crush
ing their way into the very heart Of
the cedrcla. And far above the tan
gle OF the sweltering evergiads ahe
smothered his breath with the wealth
OF her embraces
Then one sad day. oppressed, over
hurdened, laden hearted, the forest
king began to reel and totter. Slowly,
slowly the Llama sucked the life blood
from his once sturdy form and sent IL
kissing into the cords and cables Of
her own 1.-THE body to kill him with
the glory of his own immortal
strength.
After the period OF fruition was
passed she fiaunted her crimson flag
OF victory 800 feet above the unre-
garded spot where once a tiny seed
had been fertilizcd in the corpse Of n
parrot.
Till ono wild night. when a tropical
hurricane swept up the valley OF the
San Carlos, the great Cedrela crashed
downward through the underbrush
and carried with him the Llama ana
her crimson victory into the grave
yard OF the wilderness.
Travellers from the United states
have christened that terrible Llama
the stranger vine" But natives NJ
Costa Rica call il in simple Spa rish
La Mujer."-LOs Angeles Times.