| Show 0 adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 forest death trap YOU ato OU know when you go hunting you more or loss less expect to meet up with adventures of 0 a certain sort you might reasonably expect to be treed by a bear or hopped on by a 11 wild wildcat or maybe bogged down in a moss mess of quicksand or socked on the coco by a falling tree you might expect almost anything BUT thu the sort of mystifying experience that fell to the lot of george S of brooklyn N Y on a hunting trip near kingston N Y fi ip the middle of janu january ar Y 1929 29 the best adventures tire are like that it what you expect but what you DONT expect that gives you the big thrill you remember till all down ahr through ough the years george and his friend martin ross wont went hunting they might have expected to run across bears wildcats quicksand or falling failing trees but heros heres what I 1 actually did happen li appen they started out from the little village of accord N Y started out into the woods and along about evening titter after trying for two or throe three hours to fand their way back decided that they must be lost thais something else a hunter might easily expect and certainly tt it did happen but they dont count that as an adventure it was only tho the beginning of a train of circumstances that led ed to a strange terrifying night when everything was against them and nothing seemed to anko sense night hod had como come on and still they were walking in circles trying to find and their way out of the woods they were looking for a place to sleep when martin ross hoss saw a light in tho the distance hunters discover benten howse it scented to be a liiro flare of some sort the two men started walking toward it the flare dare died out before they hey had gone two wo steps but moving in its direction they ca came me to an alit old w weather cather beaten tranie framo house standing la in the middle of A clearing thero there was no light in tho the house but they approached and knocked on tho the door there was no answer but goorge george tried tho the latch and the door opened they went inside into a big empty room there was a fireplace in tho the corner and some wood beside it they started to build a flip but they never got it lighted from that moment on 7 05 IT terrified ww now the two lads picked up their rifles and began shooting at the door events crowded on an the tha heels of events so BO rapidly that they had no time to think of anything else first came cama a crash outside it sounded near the door george and martin ran to it and found tt it locked someone had fastened it from the out outside sIdel then it was they noticed that the big dim room had nc windows what kind of a house was that they noticed too that hat the door was a heavy one made of solid oak two or three times as thick and strong its as any more mere dwelling door had any business to be there was something mighty strange about that windowless dwelling A disquieting fear crept into the hearts of botu boti of them what sort of place had they stumbled into peculiar odor permeates the building shouting brought them no answer then they began to hear voices outside whoever it was out there was ignoring their cries they heard sounds of a heavy object being drawn somewhere A peculiar odor faint at first began to permeate the whole building tho the two lads lay down in a corner but not to sleep deep they lay huddled together trapped like rats wondering what their mysterious captors would finally do with them they lay there silent while the hours went by then suddenly they were aroused by the he sound of an explosion and the thud thud of running leet beet the smell of smoke began to fill 1111 the room and nd in another few minutes the room was thick with the smoke itself black acrid choking it billowed up from somewhere below them filled their lungs and set them to coughing terrified now the two lads picked up their rifles and began shooting at the door but the door was too thick to yield even to rifle bullets and it the men outside heard the shots they gave no sign of it the room was getting hot now they could hear flames crackling beneath them the smoke was so thick that they could hardly breathe they were running around in panic aimlessly dashing from one side of that strange room to another flame was creeping through the cracks in the floorboards ticking the sides of the wall with its myriad red tongues time was passing but they conscious of it all they knew was wag the terrible fear ear of being burned alive in the mysterious trap they had fallen into seek a place to escape intense heat beat then they were beginning to drop from exhaustion and lack of air first george then hen martin they were on their knees groping for a spot where the intense heat beat would not sear their heir skin when they heard beard a hammering on the door they were too weak then to care much what was bap happening pening through a daze they watched the he door splinter and fall to pieces they saw it broken down felt a merciful breath of fresh air roll in through the smoke saw aw dim foggy figures come dashing in through the doorway then hands were lifting them dragging thern them out into the gray dawn of a january morning and george saw that he was in the arms of a state trooper and being lifted into the front seat of a squad car in another moment martin was in the car with him and they were rolling along A a backwoods road toward kingston still wondering at the meaning of the terrifying terrify hig ordeal they had been put through the ne whole answer come until other troopers brought broucht in two men they had captured in the neighborhood of the house of mystery the truth was that martin and george had stumbled on a backwoods moonshine plant the moon shiners taking them tor for revenue agents had locked them in and left them to die when a few hours later their still exploded p oded and set the house afire but someone who saw the blaze phoned i the troopers otherwise two lads who had gone a hunting bunting might have ended their day of sport in a night of tragedy released by western newspaper Newt paper union |
