The Last of the Plainsmen 



cave walls with the eye of a connoisseur. &quot; My 

 archaeological pursuits have given me great experi 

 ence with centipedes, as you may imagine, considering 

 how many old tombs, caves and cliff-dwellings I have 

 explored. This Algonkian rock is about the right 

 stratum for centipedes to dig in. They dig somewhat 

 after the manner of the fluviatile long-tailed decapod 

 crustaceans, of the genera Thoracostraca, the com 

 mon crawfish, you know. From that, of course, you 

 can imagine, if a centipede can bite rock, what a 

 biter he is.&quot; 



I began to grow weak, and did not wonder to see 

 Jim s long pipe fall from his lips. Frank looked 

 queer around the gills, so to speak, but the gaunt 

 Stewart never batted an eye. 



&quot; I camped here two years ago,&quot; he said, &quot; an 

 the cave was alive with rock-rats, mice, snakes, 

 horned-toads, lizards an a big Gila monster, besides 

 bugs, scorpions, rattlers, an as fer tarantulers an 

 centipedes say! I couldn t sleep fer the noise they 

 made fightin .&quot; 



&quot; I seen the same,&quot; concluded Lawson, as noncha 

 lant as a wild-horse wrangler well could be. &quot; An 

 as fer me, now I allus lays perfickly still when the 

 centipedes an tarantulers begin to drop from their 

 holes in the roof, same as them holes up there. An 

 when they light on me, I never move, nor even 



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