“At the next glimpse, there were only sixty or seventy of the rulers, the males predominating; and as the years went on, this little band became less until at my last vision I opened the trap of my hut and only seven of my fellows were to be seen on their roofs, as we watched a herd of animals gathered for the evening feast, among them being brown naked men and a peculiar white-faced man, covered with a strange hide, the like of which I had never seen before, and whom I intended to dine upon!

“I, Jabez Pentreat, looked out through the eyes of the spider king and saw myself standing as I remembered I had stood, days before, as I had waited for the great spiders to pounce down from the roofs, and at this unbelievable sight, the curtain of gauze shut down and I realized I was at the end of the road! This is the only proof I have that my story is true.”

-7-

The City In The Smoke

“Three days later, being fully cured of my wound, I was again brought from the prison. The spiders were waiting. The valley was acrawl with vermin, whose dry rustling filled the air with whispers. Yellow-headed guards surrounded the huts, gray devils mingled with the scarlet-barred insects, huge black leaping tarantulas were present in great numbers, but in all that crowd I saw not a single insect whose bite is not poisonous to man.

“The spider king in his silent communication made it understood to me that my life depended upon my ability to guide them to the nearest community of whites, and I consented readily. Who would not have done the same? I intended to lead them to the river and take my chances of escape there, knowing that they were as careful as cats about entering water, for although the king had promised me my life, I had but little faith in the promise.

“So, on the eighth day of my captivity we set out to the conquering of an unsuspecting continent. I walked in the center of the huge rulers’ formation. About us rustled an imposing troop of guards, and for miles on each side the forest was filled with our myrmidons, scattered far and wide.

“How I feasted on fruit, that day! As we passed the small brook at tambo number 10, I caught some small fish and ate them raw, and no epicure ever tasted anything more delicious than that meal was to me. The drums growled again that night, as I lay in the midst of the lightly sleeping horde that quivered angrily at my slightest movement.

“It took me, urged on by the spiders, only seven days to cover the distance that I had taken ten to accomplish coming in.

“Toward night we began to hear the roar of the Caroni River as it struggled through a raudal, or rapid, on its way to the Orinoco.