Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-02-24
VI | = c f L L A Y.
THE SERPENTS' DEN.
BY WESLEY BRADSHAW

Ahblll wac bhtll VI DDil lllt iidlhS vi Il ttdul
iul and romantic stream, that, after meal
dering in the valleys and through the den.
forest, at length emptied its waters into Il
Ohio. 1t was situated some distance frol
the fort, which was one of those wilderne
detences that the whites erected to prote
themselves from the frequent and murderou
attacks Of the Indians.
Slocum, however unlike most of the Sc
tiers around the block houses, was never i
the least afraid of the savaCes, nor was h
ever molested by them. Often. upon bein
questioned as TO the reason Of this, he T,
Piled
" Do you suppose the redskins hav' %
hearts | do what's right by then
and they do the same by me And that
why I'm not afraid Of them. -
And this was strictly true for never di
an Indian stop at Job Slocum 5 cabin, but h
obtained everything needed. And in all hi
dealings with them, he invariably never tool
any advantage of them hut If there was {
difference, made It in their favor. In tn
course of time, family after family, charme'
with the beauty OF the locality, came and
settled in the vicinity of Slocum's clearing
and a thriving village sprung up, of whict
UON WIS ifbh'h AlI ~ a. tAiI AiNdA ttIhN
chief.
The face Of the country was exceedingly
picturesque and beautiful-being hillv, and
the darker expanse Of the grand old woods
being dotted and relieved here and there with
cheerful looking log cabins and smilin 2
fields Of corn.
One day in the spring Of 1893, jobs two
sons, Jesse and Thomas, in company with
several Of the neighboring settlers, had made
up a hunting party, intending to be gone
some days. Tne morning on which they
were to start dawned, and found every one
eager as a a. greyhound IN the slip for The
chase. They took up their line Of march in
10 a dense piece Of woods to the norrhward.
and after making their exit from this com
menced the ascent OF a steep and rocky ac-
clivity. They had reached about half way
up, when all at once the foremost Of them
started back, with surprise and horror. aS
the well known sound Of the rattlesnake fell
upon their ears. Immediately follow
ing the alarm, they beheld numbers
Of these venomous reptiles directly
in their path, some Of a huge size, and all
having their heads raised and thrown back
in q threatening manner. But the early pi-
oneers were not men easily frightened off by
such foe, and our heroes, after procuring
good stout hickory cudgels. pressed on to the
encounter.
As they approached, the serpents-whicb.
while the party were cutting their slaves.
had become passive-again reused up, and
assumed the defensive, darting out their
tongues and sounding their rattlrs farceiv in
defiance. The battle now commenced in real
earnest-the snakes striking with great anger
at the men, and they in turn avoiding the
danger Of being bitten and sh0wering heavy
and desperate blows upon the reptiles. The
latter, after a prolonged and savage contest.
finally fled, or rather retreated. down into "a
crevice Of some rocks near the brow of the
hill.
The attacking party advanced with great
caution to this opening, expecting to see the
enemy again start up to renew the fight.
Hearing no rattle, however. the boldest Of
the men, going down upon their knees, peer
ed into the fssure but nothing was to be
seen Of the serpents. which doubtless had
some subterranean cave or passage INTO which
they could retreat and be secure from ali
danger.
On counting the number that had boon
killed, the hunters found that there were be-
tween fifty and sixty, some of them being
nearly five feet in length. and, in the lqrgest
part of the body, as thick as a mans ler be
low the calf
None Of the party having received any in
Jury, they all proceeded on their way to the
place where they intended to hunt. After
the excursion for some three or
four days, the company returned in high
spirits jesse and Thomas mentioned the
incident of encountering the rattlesnakes to
their father. who, after questioning them as
10 the natural peculiarities of the spot, re
Joined
"Well. lads, we will 60 there tomorrow,
and I'll warrant you we'll have a fine time
Of it
Accordingly, early the next morning. to-
gether with his two sons and several of the
neighbors, Job proceeded to the scene Of the
previous encounter. And there, piled in
a heap, he saw the dead serpents Just as they
had been left by the victors. But the most
search of the locality failed to dis
cover the whereabouts of "a single living one.
This very much astonished all present, with
the exception of old Job, who, turning to
Jesse, said
LEND me that pole, lad, and I'll see if |
can t find them -
Having obtained the instrument referred TO,
which was nothing more than a large and
heavy plane-iron securely lashed to the ex-
tremity of long. ashen pole. he proceeded
to the crevice where the reptiles had disap-
peared after their previous defeat. Parting
some thick underbrush that covered it par
tally over, he thrust his weapon as far down
as practicable, though the jagged nature Of
the sides Of the issure prevented him from
pushing it further than about half the length
Of the hole
There must be some sort of a hiding
place where the rattling eels have crept into
and sneaked themselves snug away - ex-
claimed Job, determinedly and angrily, as he
rose to his feet, and drove the keen-edged
weapon into the trunk Of an old tree that had
been blown down by storm. As he did so.
a sharp rattle was heard in dense almost
impenetrable thicket. some ten or twelve feet
behind where he stood.
Look out, lads there's the ugly var
mints and we'll have them all around us IN
the shake of bucks tail l' cried old Job,
turning in the direction in which the Omln-
GUS warning had come.
In a few moments, two sturdy fellows, by
Job s orders, were clearing away the entangled
growth of bushes; and. after working hard
for some half an hour, they succeeded in soly-
ing the mystery, in the discovery of the hid
ing place of the reptiles.
Ii was an irregular cavern, or rather natu-
arl pit. whose sides were almost perpendlcu-
lar and about thirteen OF fourteen feet deep
On the western edge of this natural well a
large tree had been growing, and had fallen
across the top in such a manner, that the
roots resting on one side and the branches on
the other it formed complete bridge across.
The bottom of the pit was literally swarmlng
with the loathsome serpents, which no sooner
perceived the hunters than they set up hid
eOus noise. rattling and kissing violently.
The only entrance there was TO the retreat
was an opening in the side, some twelve feet
below the ground; and IN order that none OF
the reptiles should escape through this, the
hunters, obtaining water from a neighborng
spring, made tough paste of quantity OF
the rich mould about, and, dropping it down,
rammed it tightly into the opening thus plug
ging 1T entirely up.
And now the slaughter commenced. A