Show r Adventurers Adventurers' I n fL Cluba Club m a s F Jc 1 The Crawling Horde By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter N OW y O V here comes Pat Mangan l of Brooklyn N. N Y to get me all balled up Pat doesn't talk my language at all all in in spite I of the fact that judging from his name his folks c came me from the same part of Lithuania that mine did I No Pat No-Pat Pat talks about and about carrying his his his' swag and a lot lot of other things that have me running round in circles I know that talk is Australian lingo but I dont don't know what it means I 4 It was In the spring of 1902 that Pat arrived In Sydney way down on the southeast coast of the Island continent He had heard hearda a lot about bout the Australian Bush the Bush the great open spaces Just back from the narrow belt of civilization that fringes the shore and shore and he wanted to see sen It I IThe The men he met around Sydney all talked of carrying your swag and Pat and his partner Bob decided to have ha a n try at nt It Australian Travel by the Stars Now a swag as near as I can figure it out Is a n sort of pack you carry on your our back An Anyway way Pat says he ho be and Bob bought n a tent a tomm hawk blankets and a rolled them up Into a n pack and aUlt boarded a train that took them on a hour 14 trip through the bush to the town of n a a little way station consisting of a saloon a blacksmith shop and 15 houses They got off the train at and went Into the saloon Most of the customers In the bar says Pat were like ourselves We asked one of them If there was any work to be had around town Why yes he said Theres plenty at the smelting works We asked him where the smelting works was and his answer astounded us us Oh Its It's about forty-five forty miles mlles farther south he said The easiest way to find it is to wait until night and then follow the tall tail star of the Southern Cross That's the way distances go In Australia Forty-five Forty miles is around town and you navigate na the thc Bush by the stars like you would the ocean Snaky Visitors Invade the Adventurers' Adventurers Camp That night Bob and Pat shouldered their swags again and hit the trail They pushed along for about twenty miles mlles until they came to a water fresh-water stream The They were both dead tired by that time and de decided to pitch camp and stay there for the rest of ot the night We made a fire says Pat and boiled some coffee corree In our We had a bite to eat and then retired into the tent for a n smoke Bob t t rt Countless Snakes Were Writhing on Top of the Tent suggested that we write some letters and we got out pencil and paper and amI lay down on our stomachs We had been writing for about twenty minutes when Bob Dob heard n a noise on the side of oC the tent He looked up and uttered a frightful cry crl Bobs Bob's cry startled Pat half out of his wits It was a sudden terrified scream My God Paddy dont don't move Pat turned his head the matter Bob For answer Bob pointed mutely to the top of bf f the tent It H was still dark darl but a n bright moon was shining In the sl sky y In Its yellow beams both men could see shadows of objects on the top of the tent tent long long writhing shadows snakes dozens snakes dozens of them them crawlIng crawling all aU over overtime the time upper side of oC their flimsy canvas shelter 1 The Reptiles Stayed Outside of the Tent I Pat raised himself up on one elbow and took a n cautious look around There wei were a no snakes Inside the time tent tent not not yet But outside there were thousands of them swarming toward them from every side While they watched the time dozens of ot reptiles on top of the tent became hundreds s asmore as more and more of or them began creeping up Its sloping sides We didn't know whether they were poisonous or not not says P Pit Pat t but a bite from one of them might easily mean death There wasn't any possible means of escape Bob was hysterical and I Iwas Iwas Iwas was cold with fear The snakes were closing In on us In another moment they would be crawling Into the t tent n I began to wonder why they had not come conic In long before Something seemed to be beholdIng beholding beholding holding them back The more Pat thought of It the more he was convinced that something somethIng something some some- thing was keeping those reptiles out of the tent Then It occurred to him huh that maybe mabe It was the light ht they were afraid of That That gave gave him an nn idea Iden lie He told it to BOG Bob and Immediately they began piling ng the blankets the blankets the ets-the the paper the they had been writing on everything on-everything ever inflammable along along the Uie sl sides es and around the front and back ends of their shelter Ordeal by Fire Drives Away the Slimy Invaders When that was Vas done Pat picked up the can candle le and prayed that his scheme would work He lIe held the candle to the time top of the tent The Tho canvas began hegan to blaze In ten seconds the tent their tent their blankets every blankets ets e every everything r thing they owned owned was was going up in n a merry blaze We huddled In the center of the tent says Pat while fire burned all around us and over our heads In no no time at all the tent fell In ashes but the tho blankets continued to burn forming lna a aring aring 1 ring of flame that I had bad hoped would keep the snakes at bay That ring of flame lame wasn't even necessary for at the first sign of fire the snakes fled Pats Pat's hunch had been right The light was what the snakes es were afraid of lie He and Bob Dob never got to the smelting smelling works they were headed for Cor They turned right around nn and went back to the bright lights of ot Sydney They had hind had hind enough of ot the Bush and of carrying their swag Q t Benleo |