FOi=iasT AND STREAM. 
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"We cah't go oh Uttless we see the motiej'-.' 
"Vefj- well," I replied, "stay here, I have iio ttiofieyi 
Then the chief went back to the meti, and they talked 
a while longer. Then he came back again and said : "But 
you must have money. All Americans have money; only 
Indians are poor. The boys can't go on unless you show 
them your money and give them each another dollar," 
"I have money," I said, "but not here; I must go to 
bring it, and you must take good care of me when I come 
back, because I will have a thousand dollars with me; 
more than you ever saw before, and I will sleep at your 
house so that you can take good care of me." 
He opened his eyes and went" back, and they talked 
some more. Then he came again, and was a little more 
threatening in his appearance: "We know you have got 
money," he said, "and we want to see it, and the boys 
won't go on." 
'T have only a little," I said, showing a few loose dol- 
lars that I carried in my pocket; "but I will do this. 
When we get to the settlements let the people know that 
I have A'ery little money, and that they must take me on 
cheap; then, if I have any money left I will give each of 
the boys another dollar." He went back, and in a few 
moments came to me again and said : "It is this way : 
we are thinking of the drink you promised us ; perhaps 
we can go on. Will you surely give it to us?" and there 
was an anxious look in his face. 
"Yes," I said, "you can depend on it." 
"All we want?" 
"Yes, all you want." 
"But we can drink a lot." 
"Never mind, go on ; you shall have it." 
"Senor," said the chief, "that will cost a lot of money. 
You have got money ; we want to see it," and an ugly look 
came in his face, while the men crowded up to the rock. 
They certainly had me, but they saw that my pistol was 
ready, and I sat there facing them. Suddenly a thought 
came to me, and I said, hastily, "I have credit. I can get 
all the things I want; you shall have the rum, even 
though I have no money here to pay for it." Then I 
showed the chief my wallet, with passport, and some 
documents with big seals on them, He looked at it and 
said: "This credit?" 
"Yes, but only when I sign the bill." 
They traded on credit themselves, and after a moment 
the chief said : "He hasn't any money ; let's go on." 
"But he has lots of things," said one of the young 
men, looking at the packs. 
I heard nothing more, and presently they took up their 
packs and riiarched on. 
I had no more trouble with them for two or three 
days, but one morning we came to a Piyii village, and the 
men said that they must stop there for the night. 1 
protested, and said I would not; that they must go on, 
but it was of no use, and my men went off with the Piyii 
men, and all talked together at the edge of the jungle. 
I felt miserably. My men were evidently unwilling to 
kill me themselves, because they feared my friend the 
trader ; but if the Piyu men killed me that was a different 
thing. 
The wife of the chief in that village was part Spanish, 
and I began to talk to her, and presently asked if I was to 
be her guest. She replied that she supposed so. 
"But will I be safe here to-night?" She made no an- 
swer. 
"Had I better go on to the settlements?" 
"Yes," she said, "you had better go on; there is plenty 
of time." 
"But the men won't go." 
"Make them," she said. 
I went out, and angrily commanded the men to go on, 
but they would not even answer me. Here was fresh 
trouble — to get all through the wilderness on my wits and 
then to be killed by these miserable Piyii men. I was 
turning over various plans, and presently went back to 
the house and saw the woman again, and said to her, "The 
men won't go. Will I be safe here to-night?" 
She made no answer. 
"Am I your guest?" 
"Yes." 
"And will* any harm come to a guest in your house?" 
She looked away. 
"A guest, and not safe in your house?' I protested. 
She looked at me and then at my pistol. "Can you 
shoot?" she asked. "Then do this: hang your ham- 
mock across that corner ; I will bring my mats and sleep 
just outside it. If I touch your foot in the night, be ready 
and shoot quickly," 
We fixed the things, and then she said: "Now, you 
will be safe." She was evidently a determined woman. 
The Piyii chief objected to the arrangements, but that is 
all the good it did him, and when night came I was soon 
asleep, and had a thoroughly good night's rest. Next 
morning, grateful to my good hostess, I started on and 
reached Coulme, the chief city of the civilized Piyu- In- 
dians, aboiit 3 in the afternoon. 
It- was a great relief. I had now reached the settle- 
ments and was on the main road to the capital, which I 
could reasonably hope to reach in three or four days. At 
Coulme the civilized Piyu men did everything for me, so 
soon as they found I had not come from an infected dis- 
trict, and all they had was at my disposition. The chief 
of their village called a council, and he and the alcalde ex- 
amined my papers, and with all the men of the place 
crowding about made polite speeches of welcome. 
My men said I had no money as they had promised, and 
the alcalde asked me about it; but I said I had plenty, and 
a tired look came over the faces of my guides. They 
could not get any rum, because there was none to be 
had but I was safe now, and did not care. I gave them 
each the extra dollar; they seemed to be content, and 
that was the last I ever saw of them. I have traveled 
very far since then, but I have never had guides that were 
so difficult to manage. . . t , j , t^- ' 
Uro-ed by the necessity of my mission. I asked the Fiyu 
Indians to send me on at once, though I would have 
gladly remained a few davs with them. Two sturdy little 
mea: shouldered all my things, and in a short time de- 
livered me safely to the regular authorities at the nearest 
Spirtish town. Here arrangements were made for send- 
ing me to the capital. Nothing had been heard of my 
ooponent, and I began to feel secure. 
Without waiting for breakfast, I started on next morn- 
ine riding a stout mule, a young Spanish-American peon 
for my attendant and every prospect of reaching the end 
of my journey wlthotlt ftlrthel* tt'ouble. I had expected 
to buy something to eat on the road, but had not suc- 
ceeded very well, which was inconvenient. About noon 
we came to a broad circular depression in the valley, sur- 
rounded by green grass-grown hills that looked like great 
waves just ready to break and sweep all before them ; 
beyond were the mountains, looming up with startling 
effect, distant, yet seeming to hang, as it were, just over 
those picturesque green hills, like clouds hanging over 
the waves of the ocean. As we crossed this strange 
place I noticed what appeared to be fine mushrooms grow 
ing abundantly, and asked my guide what they were. 
"Fruit of the earth," he replied. 
"Are they good to eat?" I asked, feeling decidedly 
hungry. 
"Yes," he said, after a moment's hesitation, and then 
added, eagerly, "Shall I get some for you?" 
"Yes, I would like to try them." 
He brought two almost as large as dessert plates, and 
then rode on with one in his hand. By all appearances 
they were the finest of mushrooms. I tasted cautiously, 
and then ate one and part of another; but just then I 
noticed that my man was not eating his. and I thought 
to myself, "Now you have been a fool." But on waiting a 
moment, and not feeling any ill effects except a sort of 
acid coppery taste in the mouth, I did not take any action, 
and rode on, my man watching me intently. It was an 
extremely hot day, and at about 3 P. M., some five hours 
later, while riding across a treeless plain, my stomach 
suddenly felt as if some one had stuck a knife into it, and 
then had poured hot oil in after the knife. I struggled to the 
ground, and by tickling the palate caused a period of 
vomiting, and relieved my stomach of a quantity of hard 
yellow matter, though I had eaten very little. For a 
moment or two I felt better, and then the pains came on 
again, and the burning, which now extended all up my 
throat and to my nose and mouth, was almost unendur- 
able. I threw myself down in the shade and asked my 
man to get me water. He looked at me indifferently and 
said, "There is none nearer than a mile, and I have 
nothing to carry it in." 
The pain increased, and still he sat watching, making no 
effort to help me. Now the burning had extended to all 
my body, my mouth seemed perfectly dry, and a sort of 
delirium was ever increasing in my brain, till, almost 
beside myself with pain, I got on my feet, clutched the 
mane of my mule, and guided him on, seeking the 
river, though it was some distance before me. I had taken 
only a few steps when further progress became impos- 
sible; I could scarcely see. and had lost all control over 
my legs. If anything was to be done, it must be quickly. 
I had all sorts of remedies for fevers and sickness, but 
had never thought of being poisoned. Suddenly I re- 
membered a can of vaseline in my saddle bags. I got it 
out, I don't know how ; the day was so hot it had turned 
to oil. but anything to drink would have been acceptable, 
and so I swallowed a quantity of the liquid vaseline. I 
will never forget the sensation of that swallowing ; it 
seemed to touch every point in my burning throat and 
stomach, and to set them .at rest. I saw again, and my 
first thought was for water. By keeping one hand on my 
mule I staggered on, followed by my indifferent peon, and 
just as the pains were coming on again I reached the 
river and fell to drinking water, and when I could drink 
no more I thrust my arms deep into the cool stream, and 
the very pores of the skin seemed to lick up water. At 
intervals I would drink all I could, stopping only when 
it was physically impossible to take more; yet in two or 
three minutes I would be drinking again as eagerly as 
ever. Where the water went to I have no idea; it seems 
as though the human body could not hold the amount I 
drank. . 
After a time there came a lull in the pain, and the desire 
for water left me, and then there was a delicious sensation 
of languor and rest all over my body. I lay there ex- 
hausted, and feeling a numbness and chill come over 
me, I believed that I was dying, and did not care. Then 
thoughts of my defeated mission, the triumph of my 
rival, the grief at my home far away in the North; all 
came vividly to my mind, and I determined that I would 
not die. I staggered to my feet, mounted after several 
attempts, and sta:rted on a wild ride for help to the little 
city of El Real, about three miles away. As I went I 
made the mule jounce and shake me on the saddle, which 
seemed to keep up the circulation. As I drew near the 
city I got a little boy, whom I overtook, to run ahead and 
buy some raw eggs. Presently he met me with them, and 
the whites of these gave considerable relief. Then I 
got a big gourd of water; there must have been about 
three quarts. It had a sweetish taste, but I drank it 
all. and in an instant I was vomiting with almost in- 
credible violence, and was nearly suffocated by it. I 
relieved myself of more of the hard yellow matter and 
quantities of water, and was thoroughly satisfied that 
there was nothing more in my stomach. My servant 
now became all attention, took me to a good house and 
did for me everything that was possible. After resting a 
'^hort time I took some rum and black coffee, went to bed 
and fell into a sort of stupor, in which I knew nothing, 
but was dimly conscious that at intervals all through the 
night my man came and rubbed my arms and legs 
vigorously. . t ^■ 
The next morning I was better, and rode on to Juti- 
oalpa the capital of the Department of Olancho, the 
point toward which I had been struggling so long. 
I inquired anxiously for my rival; nothing had been 
heard of him. I had arrived first. ' 
• Without losing any time I went to the Government 
offices and registered my titles, and then drew a long 
breath. My^ival could come as soon as he wished; the 
registry was complete . , \. r a u u 
Later I went to visit the mines, only to find after all 
my efforts that they were Uttle more than the dream of a 
drunkard, and not worth two cents. If a man expecting 
a ten-dollar gold piece should succeed m climbing a 
greased pole only to find on reaching the top that it was 
all a mistake, he would have a right to be mad. and I 
think my own anger was excusable, yet to succeed is 
always a satisfaction, and if I had failed to reach those 
mines I would have felt it always a cause for reproach. 
Francis C. Nicholas. 
All communications intended &r FoREsy, and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
A Walk Down South^-VIH; 
I NOTICED at Hoy's that the seams covering of mf heel^ 
on both shoes had begun to rip. Small as was the mat- 
ter, it was worrying, for a walker must keep his atten- 
tion upon his shoes at all times. They are the most im- 
portant part of the whole outfit, A grain of sand at first 
not even noticed, at the end of a few hours seems to have 
the shape and size of a walnut. So, too, one's stockings 
require constant care. A tiny hole, the size of a ten- 
penny tail head on the side of the foot, is worse than a 
bruise two inches across on one's leg. I either stop and 
darn a hole in a stocking on the spot — do the work 
neatly, too, for a rough-darned place is as bad as a hole — 
or else I change the stockings until I have an opportunity 
to mend them properly. The neglect of a stitch in time 
has caused me hours of suffering. 
On every possible occasiori I wash my stockings, at 
least, and that is two or three times a week on an aver- 
age, now that I know the importance of so doing. 
T purchased a bottle of castor oil at Beech Creek for 
my shoes. It was while greasing them thoroughly that I 
discovered the ripped shoe at Hoy's. From Hoy's to 
Howard is three miles along a farm country road, and I 
entered the harness shop there, where the cobbler sewed 
up both heels in stout fashion with waxed ends. For an 
hour I sat talking with the comers and goers. They 
could tell me the distance to a village eight or ten miles 
away or less without hesitation. But beyond that they 
had to stop to think, ofttimes obliged to give it up at last. 
They knew the condition of the roads for a few miles, and 
that the Bald Eagle Valley narrowed near the upper 
end. and that for miles the wagon road was just over the 
fence from the railroad, but particular information in re- 
gard to local history, or localities on the direct routes to 
the region's trading centers could not be had. 
While I' was talking in the harness shop, a man drove 
by slowly on a hay wagon. Soon afterward I started on, 
sure only that my best route was a little south of west up 
the Bald Eagle Creek on the main road to Tyrone. Be- 
yond that place I could hear of nothing certain. 
It was cool, and a head breeze made my fingers tingle. 
A better day to walk on would be hard to imagine. I 
set off at a 2j^-mile gait, and in twenty minutes was 
making a stern chase after the hay wagon, which I could 
see far ahead. I came within a couple of hundred yards of 
it, when the driver saw me and stopped to wait — an un- 
imagined courtesy; but a look at the man from across the 
rack showed that' it was "just like him" to do such a thing. 
He was bushy-faced with whiskers, and wrapped in a 
great overcoat, while a large hat covered his head. His 
eyes were the kind one suspects of seeing answers to un- 
spoken questions. 
The frying pan ringing on the rear of my pack, the rifle, 
the blanket rolled up and strapped on top of the basket, 
suggested that I was camping out. He judged from my 
expressions that I was a New Yorker, or, at least, a 
Northern man. But what was my object in travehng that 
way? I had to. answer for myself then, and I told him 
that I was seeing the country. Who I was, where I lived 
and perhaps why I lived, were the next queries. Their he 
vaulted over the side of the wagon and went to look in a 
Ijarn a few rods from the road, not stopping the team at 
all. His activity was surprising. 
While he was gone I had a chance to see a great brick 
oven beside the house, suggestive of roast coon or roast 
pig, or any other dish requiring spacious cooking room. 
It was the first I had seen, but on his return the man 
told me that among the outbuildings for miles back I bad 
seen many that covered ovens of the same sort. 
After a while it was my turn, and I learned the name 
of Mr. George D. Johnston, fifty-nine years old, of Moun- 
tain Eagle Post Office, though living up in Kennedy's or 
Bullett's Run, nearly two miles away. In his youth he 
had taken lumber contracts, but was now satisfied to be a 
farmer on land that fronted the road for an even mile. 
He liked travelers, and often kept them nights, because 
they could tell him of things they had seen or tried to 
see with their own eyes. He reads a magazine or two 
every month, and takes two New York papers, besides 
local ones. He knew my family name, and I was doubly 
welcome to go home with him. I was glad to go up Ken- 
nedy's Run, out of my way, for the chance of talking with 
a man who could talk beyond his horses and his own 
affairs, and of matters gener^. One meets such men 
rarely along the public highways. 
His wife is well read, and his daughters, of whom I 
saw two, talk as he did. They were all of the kind to 
put one perfectly at ease, and in such company it was a 
pleasure to listen or speak. 
In the morning family devotions preceded breakfast in 
the sitting room— which was in keeping with all that 1 
saw and heard there. It was one of the hardest moments 
on the whole trip to turn my back on this family home. 
Neither the haste nor the waste of some lives could be 
seen there. 
About 10 A. M. on Nov. 7 I started down the road 
,from Johnston's, and a couple of hundred yards aAvay 
took the right-hand turn and headed for Milesburg, six 
miles away. Across the run. or brook, I climbed a grade 
through a growth of small pine. A red squirrel tempted 
me to try to shoot it, but I did not fire. A few moment': 
later I started down grade again, and saw a fine j^uck 
rabbit off to the left. He ran into the brush frightened 
by the spectacle I made. _ 
Here I saw a sign that became familiar before long. It 
was the "caution" of the Nittany Rod and Gun Club— for 
miles its preserves, consisting largely of land leased from 
farmers, extended along the roadway, and far back on 
the hills, on both sides of the valley from Milesburg east- 
ward. I did not dare stop to cook my dinner beside the 
road, lest I bring a warden upon me. So I stopped at 
one of the leased farms and had bread and milk. I was 
told that the land was held "on the English system' m a 
tone very unlike that of most Pennsylvania voices. _ It 
quite dampened the pleasure which I had felt on learning 
that the tall trees I saw along the Bald Eagle a ways back 
were really the sycamore trees of the South. They are 
called buttonwoods in this valley usually. 
Straight through Milesburg. past boys who were gather- 
ino- shellbark hickory nUts, into the trail of a single-horse 
wagon far ahead, I traveled as fast as possible. After 3. 
while I overtook the wagon .and got a ride, and, as it 
proved, two meals and a place to sleep. He was going 
