Show caught CUM AV A V helna in A bat world atwould VIA everywhere about him the nitting flitting forms darted and s squirmed and anc squeaked they struck at lila his face and neck with thel their sharp beaks and claws by WILLIAM HORNE BIZARRE and e eerie e r 1 I 1 e come almost abl able e stories from india and south america of the horrible vampire bats that feed on human beings at night but nowhere on record has there been such an experience as recently befell wallace irving planter who lives in dooly dounty county georgia ive had a lot of strange things happen to me says mr irving but the strangest of all began one day a few weeks ago when from the bottom of my well I 1 was suddenly plunged into an eerie subterranean Jerra nean world of rushing water and black caverns and while wandering far beneath the earths surface I 1 was suddenly attacked by a swarm of bloodsucking blood sucking creatures which I 1 will always believe wore were vampire bats although I 1 know that vampires are not supposed to exist in america 1 I was cleaning my well taking advantage of a six weeks drought down there 50 feet below the surface ace at the bottom of rny my well it was dark and I 1 could barely see I 1 had stuck my shovel down for a last dip into the mud and sediment when it happened the bottom of th the well literally fell beneath rne me and my scream of terror was choked by a mouthful of mud and water as I 1 went down into utter darkness A roar of rushing water filled my cars as my head banged suddenly against a hard wet wall that seemed to close in on me I 1 swallowed a mouthful of water and mud went event under felt my feet touch hard bottom then managed to stand up with my head above the surface in another world it was dark a terrible water filled darkness so black and aad rushing it took all I 1 could do to breathe it tugged at my clothes filled my mouth and clutched me down in a smothering embrace in that dank darkness wallace irving drew back with a shudder his face was torn and bleeding his body was lacerated lacerate dand and cut from the sharp jutting stones the air was chill and wet and he shivered as i with the ague many feet below the surface of the earth he was standing in some mysterious underground channel a time forgotten subterranean stream bed that went on and on into the bowels of the earth lie had come suddenly up against a sheer blank dripping wall and just below the streams stream 3 surface a two foot hole gaped open through which the stream tumbled to an unknown depth he was crouching there against that oozing wall in stygian darkness ile he had no matches to make a light and if it had been possible to have had dry matches in a pocket of his soaked clothing there was no material tor for a torch for a long time I 1 just stood there hanging to a small out thrust rock that offered me a handhold bandhold trying to collect my scattered wits As my nose was still bleeding and my lips were split I 1 could taste the salt of fresh blood in my mouth with one hand I 1 scooped up cold resh fresh water and washed my lips grid and my mouth fora for a moment it deemed to revive me I 1 groped out with my hands to my right and I 1 was surprised to find that I 1 could not reach the ceiling in that direction feverishly with new hope I 1 reached up in the blackness above my head and discovered that a wide opening existed in the right hand wall almost on a level with my shoulders without further exploring I 1 scrambled from the water to the edge of that newly discovered hole and felt my way before me there thare was a floor hard and high and dry with new hope I 1 made my way down this newfound new found tu tunnel rinel 11 cathedral of bats suddenly as wallace irving made mada his way slowly through the narrow dry channel up the incline he felt a whirr of air close beside his head he stopped still and then it came again this time even closer than the first and with the swift whirring in his ears cars came the unmistakable sound of a tiny squeak bats ho he swiftly realized lie he shuddered w where here he stood the channel had widened here he declares and somehow I 1 fell that I 1 had entered into some kind of a wide empty chamber mayb mayba it was just my feelings but sud denly I 1 went cold all over as 3 heard the whirring sound again and the distinctive beating of small wings on the still dank air A 1 flailed my arms al about out my head and went on the flitting forms about me grew thick sr and the squeaks louder and more numerous finally the air seemed full of them everywhere about me they darted and whirred whirled and squeaked finally they began hitting me on the neck and in the face and on the head I 1 ripped off my sodden coat and covered my head but it seem to do any good they came on seeming to charge in the blackness in droves attack in droves now I 1 had heard and read ol of vampire bats and my understanding of these creatures was that they only attacked a human being dur ing the dead of night when the vie vic airn was asleep but not so with these fellows A dozen times I 1 was bitten on tho the neck in the face on my bare forearms and hands I 1 screamed out at them I 1 cursed thern them I 1 wound the coat about my face and fought my way forward as fast as I 1 could where I 1 know oi 01 care those little devils were flock ing by the score all about me they were attacking me in droves suddenly no longer able to stand the attack irving screamed got to his feet and ran madly through tho the darkness that was a lucky move for almost immediately he felt a fresh breath of air on his sodden body he felt cool air tan fan his sweating face and a dim fitful light cut through the darkness of the chamber about twenty feet ahead with a wild cry he ran toward that soft light any an Y presently stood looking up at a two foot crack in the rocky ceiling of the channel more than three feet above his head it was the st sight ive ever seen he avers and I 1 stood there sobbing my relief looking up at tho the opening where the daylight poured in there were heavy thick roots protruding down into the cave cava and nil all about these roots dozens hundreds of giant bats were scrambling in and out of the cavern emitting their hateful shrieks out ot of the underworld 1 I threw my iny coat to the flooring of the wern cavern reached up above my head arid and grasped a thick root I 1 drew myself up to the opening reached through and grasped another root dirt fell in on me filling my face and eyes and mouth but I 1 mind that here wa freedom at last I 1 could get up to the air and sunlight and on top of 0 the earth again nothing mattered now except to get out of that hellish place 1 I pulled through and as I 1 did those bats flew at me in earnest they hit me in the face battered against my head and one of them scrambled down my shirt and wrig aled down dowa my back 1 I worked my way through the mass of tough roots fighting through the avalanche of dirt and small pebbles that showered down in my face then suddenly I 1 was wa up beside the thick trunk of a water oak I 1 crawled out on to the ground staggered up and made my way from the tree ill 1 I thought once that id like to take a light and explore that cave but I 1 know when I 1 think of thoss thos bats that seemed to want to eat me alive so like the vampires oj of india and south america I 1 know ill never go into that underground world again a 0 beu bell syndicate service |