Show river of death ella E EVERYBODY H HELLO heres a yarn of two men who followed a dog almost to their doom one of these men was fred rowan of pelham N Y the other was his friend and hunting compa companion nion bat fred was working down in costa rica in 1922 as overseer of a banana farm bat was another young american who also worked on the plantation on new years morning the pair of along bats Bat s dog and hunting trip taking them star started ted out on a that mutt led them into the worst spot either of them had ever been in in their lives the do dog g fred says says was a brainless animal untrained and more trouble than he was worth on a hunting trip they had crossed a bridge over a river struck into the tropical jungle 1 along a well known trail and had been hunting for an hour when the dog ran off into the underbrush and a few moments later set up a terrific yelping himl him and the two men were bat yelled come on the pigs have brush to the tee dog from the off the trail crashing through matted save wild pigs of the region which would tear him to pieces in m no time they plunged lunged into low swampy land and found the dog to freds disgust there were no pigs the cause of all the commotion was a little moth eaten swamp squirrel rain drives them toward higher ground at that moment it started raining as only it can rain in the tropics hastily the two men started back in what they thought was the direction of higher ground but says fred we see more than SO 30 feet ahead through the dense vegetation and soon we were hopelessly muddled muddied all day long we tried this direction and that but to no avail he covered the crossing with a big automatic rifle stumbling over vines and roots we floundered helplessly in that tropic swamp late in the afternoon we came out on a bit of solid ground beside the river we tried to head upstream but ahn ran into another swamp we made our way back to the high ground and all night we huddled there cold and wet with the rain dinning in our ears dawn found us wretched with hunger and thirst for with all al the water aro around und us none of it was safe to drink across the river we could see waving ban banana ana leaves over there would be trails and a trolley line leading to the railroad if we could only get across but to get across that river meant swimming and the river was fuu full of alligators on the other hand it would be almost as bad to go back into the jungle in front of freds eyes was a picture of a native he had fo found und a month before ile he had been lost for 13 days and when fred found him he had gone into his last sleep a 1 shrunken body covered with torn and festered skin even alligators would be better than that it was bat who decided fred bat was just over an attack of fever and he was the weaker of the two stay here and rot if you want to he croaked tm im going across the river fred felt the same way about it he told bat to go ahead that hed stay on the bank with a rifle and cover his crossing with his big automatic rifle carrying the lighter rifle a 22 bat called his dog and plunged into the water he made steady progress and no alligators showed the their ir noses above the surface of the stream but F fred red was relieved when a at t last he climbed up on the other bank bat motioned to me to come along says fred and with a sick feeling I 1 made a few simple preparations my rifle was much too heavy and awkward to hold so I 1 unlaced my belt half way threaded it through the trigger guard and re fastened it around my waist this permitted the barrel to swing between my legs and gave me freedom to kick As I 1 entered the water it occurred to me that bat was c covering my approach ch with a 22 full of water A 22 even dent an alligators tough hide but by then I 1 was out in the current and swimming fred swam steadily he was making it and then when he was a scant 15 feet from shore something struck him a terrific lc blow in the small of the back at that moment fred had visions of a big scaly snout poking at him before making the final grab an alligator panic seized him ile he threw up his hands and screamed oh my god gods and as lie he did so he got a glimpse of bats face above him and horror was written all over it he crawled ashore and fell face down 1 I thrashed madly in the water he says and as I 1 did so I 1 felt bottom with my knees I 1 crawled ashore and flopped face down on the ground gagging and retching with nausea I 1 lay there for a while and then bat helped me to my feet and ste steadied acied me while I 1 took the rifle off my belt As they started to walk away neither man spoke nothing was said about freds terrifying experience darkness had fallen again when after much stumbling they came to the trolley line that led to the railroad just before midnight they came in sight of the winking lights ot of their plantation camp they took some whisky and a stiff dose of quinine apiece and went to bed the next morning fred got up and began taking stock and got the surprise of his life when he came to examine his rifle he found that the barrel was split from the muzzle almost u up P to the stock then lie he asked bat a few questions they spoken of 01 that at swim across ross the river before and fo found un d out all about that alli alligator ator that had given him such a scare the evening before 1 i that just ant exist it was the gun that had g given iven him that poke the motion of swimming fred says had pushed the catch off safet safety and the drag against the belt had P pulled the trigger the me cartridge exploding under water created a terrific ic recoil which drove the stock of the gun into the small of my back bat had seen what took place and thought from my cries that I 1 had been shot hence the expression of horror on his face and I 1 of course thought it was because something had attacked me my mind had been too dazed to realize the folly of swimming with a loaded gun aar and another S folly fred says hen hell never repeat is going to the rescue of a half witted dog copyright service |