The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-07-14
4 RATrLEsrAKEs' SPRING.

A RATTLEsNAKEs' SPRING.
Narrow Escape In tho Blue Ridge Going TO |
Bed with Rather In MountAineer's
Cabin.
.sYou may talk about your Catsklll, !" said
] man on the hotel piazza last night, 3but
did you ever in your in your life see any
thing more beautiful than that?n and he
pointed to the billowy ranges Of the Blue
RIDGE mountains, whose tops were losing
themselves in the soft misty hue Of twi-
light Il tell You" he continued, tsthere
are no more beautiful mountains in this
country than these Virginia peaks There
is only one thing I got against thenl-they
are Just jam full Of snakes.
$50 I have heard, put it has never been
my fortune to meet with any face to face"
.sYou can thank your lucky stars, them
said the man who was q drummer for q
Baltimore firm. 81 first met one face to
face in the most unpleasant manner few
nights ago. had occasion to take quite q
trip on horseback You know everybody
rides on horseback in these parts and
after trotting along for two or thee hours,
I struck up into the mountain. The sun
was slowly sinking, casting its beautiful
lights and shades, with all their delicate
witchery, over the surrounding landscape.
It was beautiful, and gazed, enchanted,
upon scene which / cannot describe.
Arousins myself from my reverie, was
warned by the deepening shadows to hasten
on. I had chosen path which was little
more than bride path, and each step the
way becoming more rough and rugged.
Over broken rocks and fallen treesa1 pur-
sued my way with great difficulty. AS the
shadows deepened and objects became less
discernible my horse began to manifest
unmistakable signs of fear and uneasiness
shying at times so violently as to almost
throw me from the saddle. Ss,s
rat last, to my great satisfaction, I dis
tinguished the sounds of human voices.
Pushing on in the direction from which
they proceeded, came upon group of
men standing in front of a rude log cabin.
they were rough mountaineers, aud made a
living by distilling whiskey. Riding up,
enquired the distance to my place Of des-
tination. It was several miles further on.
] was not acquainted with the way. 1t
would have been dangerous for me to have
kept on, aud asked If I could be accom-
modated for the night. Get down, strang-
er: get down. was the ready response. we
haven't much in the wild country, but wha
we have is at your service" z}l
Twas pretty stiff after my long ride, anG
gladly dismounted. As / jumped from m,
horse I saw upon the ground at their fee
what, upon examination, proved to be {
large snake. It was moccasin, six feet
long, and an ugly looking customer. NJ.
exclamation of alarm drew from one of tn
men the remark that the snake had beer
dispatched but few moments before m.
arrival. we had a pretty hard job of it,
he said. but we fixed him, at last. W.
don't care much for them, but the fact is
when we do spot big snake close by, W
don't choose to have him loafng about tn
place too Familiarity, you know, for b
might snap up some onesof US when "
were not thinking Of it, SO we settle him q
once.'" How do you do it, I asked
s"Well, when he is fine old rattler W
try to secure him without breaking his hide
We draw his attention by putting some
thing on the end of a pole on which is ais
snare, and when the old fellow pops u
T. his head from behind the log we just dro
the snare over him, aud one of us runs uE
and catches him by the neck and puts
spike through his head. That is, when "
catch them to stuff for your museums
Oh, there are lots of them about here, lot
of them. We have several fine old fellow
On hand now.
sI listened in silence. Not very in
viting prospect for a nights lodging,
thought, as stood debating in my min
the ACCESSIBILITY of moving on in spite {
the darkness and rough roads. sum
mons from the cabin to supper decided M
) however. The cool mountain air ha
proved keen appetizer, and thorough
, enjoyed the plain but substantial meal {
corn bread and bacon. Supper over, :
repaired again to the front of the cabil
A feeling of exhilaration came over me-
feeling which man can only experien'
= by going into the very heart of the moul
tain. The noon had risen, and arour
and above me the trees nodded in tioe
! of silver light. Picturesque and beautif
! beyond DESCRIPTION was the scene: banisl
! ING from nv mind all disagreeable or u,
: pleasant thoughts. Each rock and era en-
, and bush seemed under the mystical lig
= to become transformed into somethil
lovely and fairylike.
But even the loneliness of the mig
could not dispel the WEAKNESS which W
= = gradually stealing over me nor tempt Il
= longer to remain; SO, accompanied by q
= host, was shown my quarters, 1t was
- - little, low room, seeming to be Oft from t
" main building. Through the chinks on {
logs came the moonlight in little patche
The window, small port hole conce1
was built right up against the mountai
% and beneath it huge rock and underbrus
AS stood in the dismal comfortless roo!
y 1 confess to feeling of great nervousness
e, I did not like the looks Of things at a
u Back to my mind flashed the stories Of t
~ evening" was conscious for the first til
y in my life of being actually afraid.
/ about my preparations for the night vi
~ as good stock of courage as could SUI
AZ mon to my aid, making careful survey
q the room and filling mp the chinks as b
y could. Hardly had I finished ere my CAM
70 Hickered ,sputtered spitefully and went o
sought my straw bed, placed my revol'
ne under my coat and settled myself to
IN to sleep. But sleep could not.
A After passing what seemed. hours
p wakefulness, extreme WEAKNESS and
OF low wind soughing through the pines thu
We me at last into restless, uneasy slumb
p III which my dreams were filed with frig
a. full visions. From one more horrible tt
n the rest, I awoke with start. From
On foot of the bed came harsh grating SOU
i'd What could j. be? tried to assure myf
es that the sound held no significance for I
but instinctively felt a horrible sensat
u of something near dangerously near.
j. raised myself up, only to sink back wit
he low cry of horror. The moonlight, stres
"a, inn into NV window revealed to me