Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-09

was at their mercy. do not blame them for
what they did. From all they knew of white
men, 1t was well deserved, and they knew that
they could get away.
1t took them almost no time at all to decide
on their course of action. First they pulled my
hands as far up my back they could, and
then they tied them together with lengths of
hanaS that they tore from the trees Then
they stood me in front of a tree and tied nv
hands to it so that was stopped forward and
most OF the strain came on my arms which
were so tightly trussed up behind my back
Then, having put me in a position from
: which there was no escape, for every move
I made merely served to pull my arms more
painfully up my back they broke the earthern-
ware pot that had been sitting in the redhot
Goals, and placed piece of the heated ware
between my hands. My hands burned terribly
for minute. but then came a sort of ana
esthesia and suffered very little
Now however, one of my captors put the
finishing touch on my situation, although I
did not understand until after they had left me
just what he had done. With his machete he
cut deep cash in the trunk of the tree lust
over my head. When he came toward me with
his machete poised thought, naturally enough
that my end had come, but he merely cut the
tree. remember thinking that the maneuver
was silly one, and wondered If he had done
1T merely in order to brighten me- But they
said nothing, and having finished their task
they left, disappearing silently into the Jungle
while still hung there in a painfully uncom-
Portable position, with my hands still smoking
n little from the burning of the aesh.
A ND now that the Indians had gone, I
began to understand the almost fiendish
cleverneSS OF that cash in the tree The sap
had now had time to flow down the trunk, and
the huge black ants that until then had been
tha
became conscious of that tremendous supuly
OF food At first only few Of them used
me as bridge by which to reach the gosh
in the tree, but before long thousands Of ants
began OF stream up my legs. along my tortured
arms even into my face and neck and down
inside my shirt which open at the throat
Myriads Of the powerful black fellows came
shook my head in an effort to free myself
OF the constant streams of insects 1 blew
at them from the corners of my mouth
shouted and stamped but all to no effect. Still
they came, while every move I made left
me hanging that much more Imply with INV
hands far up my back, with the body pitched
forward away from the tree, with almost nv
entire weight hanging from my twisted and
painful arms that were tied so tightly and SO
nendishly well to the trunk of that ant-cov-
cred tree
All the rest of the afternoon hung there
shrieking now and then. and falling into a
sort OF semi-coma from time to time only tn
reawaken and to spit and blow and shout at
the ants as they continued TO traverse NV
tace-to climb down my neck-tO pause and
bite occasionally at the corners of nv ewes
or at my parched and swollen lips Evening
came, and the jungle turned from green to
black. The night was terrible, for still the
ants continued to crawl me. 1 seemed
TO be alive with ants. My mind revolted and
I screamed. That is about all that re,nem-
Der OF that night. Ants and darknessl Dark
ness and ants And these two realities were
constantly punctuated by the fearful pain from
almost dislocated arms
Morning came. finally, but was hardly con-
sclous OF 1t. hung there helplessly certain
that my end was coming I was in the Jungle
mind you, away from any trail, and away from
any Indian village. Help was very unlikely
to come. and had long since given up hope
But providentially. two little Indian girls de-