Chapter 31We slithered three hundred yards through cogon grass
rife with hobo spiders, poisonous grasshoppers, and ponerine
ants—all insects native to the Philippines but alien to the boys
from Kansas.
I warned the men about the exotic beasties
they might encounter while snaking along the ground.
“Poisonous grasshoppers?” one man said.
“Ain’t it bad enough that the varmints eat everything in sight? Do
they have to kill you too?”
“Well, they may not kill you, but a bite
from one of these grasshoppers will make you pretty damned sick,” I
explained. “Just watch out for them. They’re brown and yellow.”
I checked my watch. We had been crawling
along the ground for about ten minutes and arrived at a spot about
one hundred feet from the closest breastwork. I was more concerned
abou
