Show fad adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE the terror strichen Heri hermit herinio nit dy by FLOYD GIBBONS famous headline hunter arello I rELLO EVERYBODY HELLO arcon eyes of a wildcat in the dark a pitch black road covered with snakes a fear struck hermit and a loaded shotgun comprise the bill of fore faro dished up today by casper of Ho hoboken bokon N J casper an ex cx civilian conservation corps worker who was eighteen at the time encloses his discharge which roads reads dy by this nil all will know casper served ills his country well as a member of uie the civilian conservation corps that magnificent army of youth and peace icaco that puts put s into action the awakening of we the people to tho the facts acts ot of conservation and recreation and that with all honors ho he completed his tour of duty at company camp fla SP 3 so bring florida on march 20 1035 11 road full of sleeping snakes on this fateful night october 20 1034 1934 casper missed the last truck back to camp which left at 1030 p m sharp ile he would have welcomed a lift from a coal wagon rather than walk heres why to begin with the camp was four and a half miles from town four and a hau half miles Is a constitutional but when you have to do it in pitch dark alone not so good and not all because the ho roads stay warm at night from the ho hot florida sun snakes are arc fond of lying in them at night and sleeping Ble do you begin to get the picture four and a half miles in the dark expecting any minute to tread on a sleeping snake and still not nil all casper had started walking and had done ills his first mile in darkness so intense ho he could see only a few feet ahead when behind him he heard a soft scratching noise as if someone was following mo me he says saya ile ho turned to look nobody ilo ho hastened his steps presently the sound came again casper stopped short turned thinking perhaps it was another boy boofing hoofing it to camp in answer to his shout ho he got a soft steady meow w w that casper says was enough then I 1 really did get frightened you see they have wildcats in those parts wildcat was rendy heady to spring fearfully casper looked in the direction tho the sound had como come from suro sure enough two gleaming red and green eyes glared straight at him caspers heart just about stopped beating less than fifteen feet away was a wildcat ready to spring there was lust just one thing to do run casper ran in fact he ha took to his heels in practically a blind panic tho the nearest farmhouse was a quarter of a mile away the road to this farmhouse was fairly infested with snakes that bother k n 7 ka IV ile iio raced along it a snake infested road casper now gowhe lie had bigger worries for that matter if he did stop step on a sleeping snake he was traveling so fast by this time hed bo be out of sight before the snake woke up enough to do anything about lt it casper did the quarter mile to the farmhouse in time jessie owens have sneered at ile ho had lust just one idea to get away from that wildcat perhaps why ho he was almost on top of the house before ho he gave a thought to hla his destination desti nailon to most people it might have seemed cheerful to casper it was a reminder that suddenly brought him tot tol the farmhouse was occupied by a queer old hermiel but there ther a were tho the gleaming eyes behind him and casper had no choice A second later panting and shouting he was pounding madly on the shacks door closer closer came the red and green eyes casper redoubled ills his po pounding undine its his fr frantic arillo shouting tho the door shivered the knob rattled tho the door swung back it framed tile the figure of the queer old hermit but what made casper halt on the threshold frozen with terror was the lie shotgun in the hands of the rear struck man for its twin barrels like the eyes ot of a deaths head were tra trailed lied on caspers heart and its twin triggers were controlled capser knew by lingers fingers that took look their bidding from a terror stricken unpredictable mind saved by frightened hermit on came the wildcat light from the shack door reflected from hla his blazing eyes it was this light that probably saved caspers life for an instant it blinded the oncoming wildcat slowing blowing it up and in this instant the terror struck hermit caught sight of the blazing eyes beyond and sized up the situation ile he swung the shotgun away from casper in the nick of time drew bond bead on the wildcats eyes and let go with the load the roar of the shotgun was too much for caspers frayed nerves the wildcat was finished but he stop to think about that in fact casper was well down the road before he realized he even thanked the man tor for saving his life with the wildcat and the shotgun and its strange owner behind him casper still had a mile and a quarter of snake infested pitch black road ahead of him worse still there was nothing to stop a second wildcat from taking up the trail so when caspers overwrought nerves heard again the same scratching sound that had signalled signal led the wildcat before he waste too much time looking ile he just bolted as fast as he could trying to put as much distance between himself and this second pair of gleaming eyes as possible lie he get tar far two powerful headlamps head lamps appeared in the distance lit up the road came closer and drew up and in their welcome glow casper saw that what he had mistaken for eyes of a wildcat were instead the eyes ot of a police dog trooper belonging to one of the lieutenants and casper says was I 1 happye the lieutenant for it was his car cardione card drove iove casper back to camp safely 0 service |