"My God! They're eating me alive!" Truth exploded in Barks' mind as he realized that the beetles were turning him into a bloody pulp and that more of them kept attacking and consuming him. The river! he thought. His body jerked spasmodically as he staggered on. If I can get to the river, maybe I can drown the filthy little bastards! Agony, more excruciating that before, attacked his right hand. When Barks lifted it with painstaking effort, he saw the gleaming white hand of a skeleton. But the sight was brief for, moments later, he no longer had eyes to see... (back cover)