Evening star., 1926-06-06

these wretched shacks. and all came
out to gaze in astonishment at the
two bedraggled apparitions that had
dropped with the rain from the clouds.
Wigwaggins with fingers. and by
marks on the ground. / learned that
we had come II miles--12 miles in l.
hours--.and had 90 to do.
No doubt / was as strange a sight
to them as they were to me. though
. with my shirt missing and khaki
| shorts in shreds there was little to
choose between US either in attire or.
thanks to the mud, in color. The ma
! tive adults, both men ana women,
were naked TO the waist. with a cloth
that bagged to their knees wrapped
about their loins. OF course. they were
barefoot.
I SLEPT that night on mat at the
! head of a long row of these say.
ages The rain did not cease all night
and at daybreak fell with renewed
violence. All morning the wind rose
| higher and higher, until by noon it
was blowing with hurricane force and
driving a veritable Cloudburst against
us.
| The storm. thank hevaen. was only
| d passing one, and by o'clock had
! Irumbled on east to imperil ships on
| the China Sea. With it went the rain,
! to the great JOY of us both. for during
~ hours 1t had not ceased as many
! minutes. While the trail was a worse
| morass than ever. who cares when
| there Is an occasional promise of sun
shine?
| Meantime. what about the many ami
mails that | forecast al the outset of
this journey? For day and half
was completely unconscious of the
! fact that this isthmus more than any
place in the world was the home of
| the widest OF wild animals and of the
| largest. most venomous Of snakes
and I had seen nothing.
Now the appearance of deer. mon
| keys and grouse reminded me of what
a geological garden I was in. From
that moment-Eince l was completely
unarmed~-T began to be uncomfort-
able and to feel myself i'm the presence
| of all the beasts for which | knew the
peninsula was notorious. The creak
ing Night Of four huge black and
white herons overhead quite startled
me with its uneXpectedness. L be-
gar TO anticipate danger to look for
it-and. az one always can, | found it.
We were approaching u stretch of
! bottomless mud fianked OF each side
the guide. some distance ahead of me,
had fioundered in the slough. chose
TO go through the grass and az l did
So the most dramatic and terrible mo-
lnent it, would be possible to expert
ence fell opOn me--Cr better. coiled
about me, for ! stepped squarely on
top Of a cobras nest.
IA fash the outraged occupant
had wrapped itself around my unpro-
tected ankle. and with it's hood eN
panded not two inches from my shin
glared with iabolical. lidess. in
desclibably malignant eyes straight
into a very ashen countenance.
a dozen things flashed through my
mind almost simultaneously: NV
hopeless position--hours and miles
from assistance--the idiot guides in
ability to carry or drag me the re-
manning distance across the swollen
streams and morasses. Aud 50
would die aud remain in The Siamese
jungle. having paid the price "f in.
discretion.
There was no fear of death, but
utter despair at leaving all that was
life. had no questioning or anxiety
about the future. no repentance, no
regrets. no supplication. l would
lead the same life over If were
ever allowed to live again. though the
chances are I'd go n second time
where most men go.
And all this passed through my
mind i'm no more than a second, as I
stood frozen and aghast. staring into
those two inurderouS eyes.
What | did was done mechanically
and without order from a paralyzed
brain. Thus mature often rescues us
from ourselves. In my hand ] carried
a cane staff. picked up along the
route and employed in an absent