West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-08-21

when see inn "
Wall, said Bin, slowly and thought
iullN. as II anxious 10 hc very correct in
his statement, II could not say as ter
his length. cgNdcIV, fur only see bout
twenty-five foot NV i'm, Jest as hc was
a-goin' inter hi, holcr'
After that the two w"rc generally
considered to bc the champion story
tcllcrs of that section.
The experience of cowboy who was
bitten by IA rattlcSnakc, as related hv
himself, Interested me greatly | had
occasion. in the latter part of the sum
mer OF 16, to visit the northern part OF
New Mexico, and on my return stopped
few days i'm little settlement called
Trinidad (mcaning Trinity, situated a,
the base OF the Ration Mountains i'm Cot
orado. IL numbered about fifteen hun
drcd inhabitants, fully two. thirds of
whom were McNicans; and though il
presented few attractions 10 the tourist
yet II was the most attractive place /
had seen for several months. Quite
exhausted 10y three DAYS and nights
tedious staging, concluded to make it
my rcsting-placc. The day after my
arrival, while seated on the pinzza of
the one small hotel in the settlement.
chatting with its loquacious landlord.
noticed strengthening figure ap-
preaching IL was that of tall. hcav-
| ily-bcardcd man, perhaps fifty years of
age, dressed IN fringcd buckskiu gar
ments, his head covered with the usual
| hcadgcar OF tho plalnsman, a wide
hrlmmcd white felt SOmbrerO, and his
feet cncdscd in moccasins claborately
worked with beads. As he approached,
/ noticed that his SOHIiTcrO was cncir-
clcd, in fact almost covered. low strinvs
OF rattlcS taken from rattlcsnakcs. that
/ his lct-hlnck hair reached, i'm sna>y
/ tre-scS, far down his back, and that
one sleeve of his coat was empty.
"Who is hc,' ! asked, eagerly, for a
ranger-looking being il was never my
/ fortune to see
lIc'' replied mine host. ''Why.
| that's Rattlc,uaKc Bill. Hos quite "a
character, ho is. Don't do nothiu'
much bat hunt rattlcsnakos Was bit
| 10y one on 'em oncct, and lost arm by
| it. lie has been little on ever since
/ thcre thc landlord significantly tapped
his forehead with his forc-dnger)
Reckon he'll toll yer bout it, # yer
want i'm to-
Expressing n desire TO hear his story,
! RattIc-nake Bill was soon seated at my
side, gazing abstractcdly across the
prairicS.
wal, he commenced. when aroused
from his abstraction, and informed that
! would like to hear how ne lost hi,
arm, ''mc and Jim Smith Che was my
compa,irc then) was punchin' cattle
down on the Hucrfano. and wa, to
work on a big round up 1 remember
II icst like IL was yesterday. though
things since then dO seem kinder mixed
when we come TO a camp one evcnin'
bout ez the sun was sottin' We hrdn't
more n stakcd out our hosscs
when ! seen, jest over little rise
near by, herd er antelope
-four or five does an "A buck. Wal.
jim an me hcdn't he'd no fresh meat
fur more nor three weeks; he'd been
livin' ON 'cow-bclly' and tOrttlias: so
said ter Jim ez how | guessed I'd go
ont an see ef / couldn't stalk one. So
] TUX my rifle we hcd ter 20 armed in
them days-an' started Of. sec that
the wind war Jest right, On they was ter
the windward Nv me- an knowed cf /
Z could get ter the top or the little rise
without startin' NV EN-, thet could pit
"a shot within two hundred yards |
walked Ell fur On ! burst, an then got
down on my hands an knees an com.
mcnccd ter crawl. I hedn't crawled
more nor ten feet (Myi how it makes
me crawl now ter think on itD when n
rattlcsnakc, ez big round On my wrist.
dartcd out or his hole RIGHT under me.
an buried his fangs in my arm"'
lie had talked quite calmly up tothis
point, when a strange, uncanny express
sion came into his eyes, and / noticed
that he trcmbled violently
After an interval Of some minutes.
during which he passed his hand sever
al Times over his forehead. ms il TO col
lect his thoughts. he continued:
jest remember dashin' the REPTILE
TO the ground an cruncbin' its head
with my boOt-hcCl, an then made
tracks fur camp. We hednt no buV-
Juice, nor no hartshOrn, nor nothiu'.
an the nearest doctor was ter Fort
Lyon, ON the Arkansas good forty
miles away! Jim was Almost crazv
when ! told him what he'd took place
he was the best friend I ever he'd an
done everything he could. lie opcpod
out tine wound with his iack-kDifo
sucked out all the blood an pilcn he
could chawed some torbacker fur a
pOultice, an put it ontcr IT, an tied "a
strip or raw-hidc lest On tight cz bc
could up above it, little below thc
elbow Then he picked out the two
freshest hOe4e- twe had thrco apicccJ
see thct the others was well stakod out.
an helped mo inter the saddle. like
wo3 n woman jest 80 tender They
was GOOD brOuchOq wc he'd. fur tlcv
made tine distance ter Fort LYON $50
Jim told me- in less nor three hours.
am DO was topablo rough goin'. some
on Il was, too. though don remem-
bcr uothin' about 10 ar.or wo hod rid "a
little while, tho pain In my arm nus so
terrible.
"Jim told me afterwards thet hc he'd
Ter fasten me ter my saddle with "a
lariat an pack me- like q dead ante
lOpc. fur the last ton miles The doc
tor at The Fort said 10 wa'n't much use
90 10 nothin' fcariu' On how Che pilcn
hcd got inter my veins. fur my arm
was swollen terrible above tho raw
hide. an worse below it but hc kinder
thought The only hope was TO take oil
my arm near the shoulder an so he
done &c.
Didn't even know Jim Smith fur
three weeks; but (hcre he paused and
thcre was % very snlky glitter in his
eyes as he cOntiuued) 'haln't I hated
snakes ever since then They spilled
my life stranger, but III get even with
.em aiOrc. die sure cz my name
Batilcsnake Billr' and so concluding.
the poor. half-dcmented creature arose
from hi. chair and walked slowly away