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Show half ) !,:MTURERS' CLUB TO, blL ons'fjES FROM THE LIVES y npll UKE YOURSELF! " "Hirer of Dcuth" lGl.yVEKYr.OlK: ;.s a yarn of two men who followed n (W nl IF 'rdoo.n. One of those men was Fml Howan'of 11 It The other was Ins friend and hunting com- tS 'working down in Costa Uiea in 11)22, as over f-inn- r,;U was another young American V I . :kfd on the plantation. On Now Year's morn- r of tliem started out on a hunting trip, takin And that mutt led them into the worst yi-of thorn had ever been in in their lives. iw.Frfd M's' was n brainless animal, untrained -vjbk1 than he was worth on a hunting trip. They " a bridge over a river, struck into the tropical :a well known trail and had been hunting for an A ie dog ran otT into the underbrush and a few -:er, set up a terrific yelping. 1 . "Come an the pigs have hunt" Ami the two men were i.c-jshini through matted brush to save the dog from the 'i;Ki'n which would tear him to pioves in no time. They tknot !o swampy land and found the dot;. To Kred's disgust ke U apis. The cause cf aU the commotion was a little moth-or. moth-or. : uirrel. penni in Drives Them Toward Higher Ground. n pre ---fat it started raining, as only it can rain in the tropics PI x-Ecn started back in what Uiey thought was the direction remei"-1 ' But"" Sa' Frec1, W? ClulJn,t see mre Uln 30 feet it dor.se vegetation, and soon w e were hopelessly niud-:;r niud-:;r kr.j we tried this directum and that, but to no avail. 'ehati frU $tty - r-siv v, CITIES! CIT-IES! Ee covered the crosinj with a big automatic rifle. r:srs.es and roots, we floundered helplessly In that tropic ! lis a the afternoon we came out on a bit of solid ground i i'r.?er. We tried to head upstream, but ran into another i w'.ziie our way back to Lhe high ground and all night we :eficJ.i and wet, with the rain dinning in our ears. Dawn in.J. rr--iti with hunger and thirst, for with all the water around j i.tvas sa!e to drink. Across the river we could see waving Over there would be trails, and a trolley line leading to fJ. If we could only get across." 1? jet across that river meant swimming and the river J of tlligjtors. On the other hand, it would be almost - fo back into the Jungle. In front of Fred's eyes was icirn 1 na,'Te be hid found a month before. lie had been nmc U kvs nd when Fred found him he had gone into his I i5 P"" shrunken body covered w ith torn and festered skin. jjLitor, would be better than that. ifToi a Bat who decided Fred. Bat was just over an attack of rtriJV k &e weaker of the two. '"Stay here and rot If you oub .. cr2aed. "I'm going across, the river." Fred felt the he ;w-!it. He told Bat to go ahead that he'd stay on the bank ern-" "cover" bis crossing with his big automatic rifle. Car--Ster riile a .22 Bat called his dog and plunged into the ifla' 3 cade steady progress, and no alligators showed their noses rnu;;-ce of the stream. But Fred was relieved when at last ediiupon other bank lenf-Ked to me to come along," says Fred, "and with a sick 01 -Uade a few simple preparations. My rifle was much too si" aTaTd to hold, so I unlaced my belt half way, threaded it idu '.? t;g2er guard and refastened it around my waist. This per-.) per-.) j-J barrel to swing between my legs and gave me freedom to I entered the water it occurred to me that Bat was covering j";arith a .22 full of water. A .22 wouldn't even dent an allt-j-'-Slude. But by then I was out in the current and swimming." t swam steadily. He was making it. And then, when he irk ' 13 ,eet frota shore, something struck bim a terrlfio . 11 te small of the back. At that moment, Fred had visions 'S.scaly snout poking at him before making the final grab. ?'!i0r! Panic seed him. He threw up his hands and ' .,"0h my God!" And as he did so he got a glimpse of ' j" above him and horror was written all over it. 'J Be Crawled Ashore and Fell Face Down. 4i mad'y the water," he says, "and as I did so I JB i with my knees. I crawled ashore and flopped face SJ,. Aground, gaggine and retching with nausea. I lay .';, and then Bat helped me to my feet and steadied i ' to the rifle off my belt." a' SrStarted t walk away, netther man spoke Nothing was jPred'. terrifying experience. Darkness had fallen i m J fJm?h bling they came to the trolley line at led to before midnight they came in sight of lhe wmkmg hghts . . "on camp. They took som whisky and a stiff dose 1 e-and went to bed. . a, ntnotniS Fred got up and began takinj; stock-and C! i n? of his When he came to exam ne h.s rtfle elZ ttlhe ba"el was split from the muzzle almosi i uj he asked Bat a few questions-they idn:tnSPant aCross th ver before-and found out all about ttat lT 'hat had eiven him such a scare the even.ng before. iust didn't exist. It was the gun that had giver i hun -i-h,?? motion swimming," Fred says, had Pus" a"d e drag against the belt had PfJU sLeXplodinS wter water, created a terrific recou tpto ito the small of my back Bat h ad fs .and from my cries that I had been shot n L0t h0rror bis face. And I, of course, thought it ' k'ng had attacked me. My mind had been too daze irrHoth 7-0f 8wimming with a loaded gun." rescue 2 & foUy Fred says he'U never repeat is going to the fa ""tied dog on Copyright. WNTJ Service. |