The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1879-09-25

yer heart out. Tell me without sound,
or Tll-thunder and furies"
He half released his grasp, and, turn
ing, struck at something upon the ground,
close at my side, with horrible oath.
There was the flash of his knife, a
sharp, metallic rattle, and then little
something shot like quivering lightning
straight at his face, and two little dbps
of blood ran down his cheek. He was
bitten by rattlesnake.
The same instant the reptile drew his
Shiny body across my hand, and disap-
peared again in his hole among the rocks
near by, from which our struggle had
aroused him.
Ny captor breathed hard and turned
deathIy white.
whisky" said he, hoarsely; ~ must
have whisky or die"
He strove to rise, but it was my turn
now. Wrapping my arms about him
with an energy born of despair, | bound
him to me- Ii could but hold him I'M
til the poison had time to work, 1 could
escape, and Tom with me.
1t was horrible, but we struggled life
for life, and was the cooler man of the
two now. His knife was broken. We
could only fight with our hands, and all
my enemy's efforts were to escape; but,
with a strength which hope renewed, l
resisted, and dragged him down again
and again, until in his quivering muscles
and relaxing hands, in his distended eyes
and outhanging tongue | saw that the
venom was beginning to aid me. Then,
redoubling my effort, with an almost
superhuman strength | threw him at last
to the ground, bound him with his own
gaudy scarf, gagged him, and was freel
For a moment was utterly exhausted;
then, slowly recovering, | crept to where
Tom lay, and with few blows of my
knife released him from the heavy cords
which bound him. Myold friend had been
a silent witness of the entire battle and
had seen the snake and knew all. As he
arose to his feet, he grasped my hand and
nearly crushed it in the expression of joy;
then, without word, he pointed toward
the pile of rock, not dozen feet from
the place where my antagonist lay.
| turned to look. From every hole and
crevice, from every crack and corner, by
twos aud threes, single and in pairs, were
crawling the most dreaded of mountain
reptiles--rattlesnakes!
Tom leaned toward me and said:
eyer fight aroused them, and they will
kill every man here! We are in that
place Pye hearn tell of-Rattlesnake
GulchW
Then, seizing my arm, he led me rap
idly across the open glade, by the sleep.
ing robbers, to the spot where the horses
were hobbled.
Selecting two we quickly muffled their
hoofs, rode cautiously through the wind
ing outlet till we reached the open coun-
try, and then, with shake of the reins,
dashed away at headlong gallop. We
were free
Red Jim, the outlaw, was never seen
again; but five years later strange tale
was brought into the mining camps on
Red Water Run of lonely ravine in
bleaching skeletons had been found.
The prospectors who discovered them
would have sought further among the
whitening bones for other relics of the
lost party, but the canyon was so filled
with rattlesnakes that il was not safe to
rnmain there, aud the simple finding
of the remains is all that will ever be
known.
Old Tom, however, said to me:
"Twelve outlaws; twelve skeletons! The
rattlers caught them ailp'