Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1888-08-24
TERRIBLE ORDEAL.
An Adventure Which Made = Coward Of
q Gallant Omcer.

Gallant Omcer.
J. Instances are not uncommon of men
who have displayed most remarkable
courage and fearlessness, and have
faced even death itself, until all dan
ger was past, and then have broken
down utterly, and been as cowardly as
| children ever after. A writer gives a
thrilling incident of this kind, which
happened in India. On one of his
many trips mp Little Rangoon river he
camped one night with party of Brit
ish officers who were out on hunt.
The leader of the party, and the best
shot and bravest man in it. was Major
Curtis, man about forty years old.
He has killed more animals than any
other white man in the province.
Armed only with revolver, he had en-
tered the bungalow in which II MUIR
| derer was concealed, and taken him
away from a crowd of his friends and
delivered him to justice. He had swum
the river amid the alligators, and he
would stand for the rush of a tiger or
the spring of panther with laugh
on his lips. They said the Major did
not know what fear was. He, perhaps,
thought so himself
The camp was on the bank of the
river. and only temporary one, and
no tents or covers were erected. We
sat around the fires until late hour,
and when we rolled ourselves up for
sleep the Major and l were only about
four feet apart, with nothing between
us. The camp grew silent at once. and
every body was soon sound asleep. /
was just doing off when l thought l
detected the crawl of a snake near me,
but, after listening closely for min
ute, concluded it was a lizard or in
sect. The air. the earth. the forests
imal life by day and by night A camp
no sooner grows quiet thar wild rats
and mice, Lizards, great beetles, and
three or four sorts of squirrels begin
to prospect around, while night-birds
circle about and the wolf, fox, jackal,
hyena and other animals draw near.
Snakes are always to be feared. but if
one started up at every suspicious
sound he would never get an hour s
sleep.
Daylight was just coming when l
opened my eyes. l was on my left
side, turned toward the Major, and
noticed that he was on his back. Close
beside me was revolver. which 1 had
slipped out of his holsters the night be-
fore that l might have it handy in case
OF need. Not another soul in camp
was yet aroused. so far as know, and
| lay listening to the noises in the sur
rounding forest while dayli hit con-
tinued to grow stronger. l was about
to arise, when / suddenly saw the head
OF serpent lift itself above the Majors
breast and wave to and fro. ] shut nv
eyes for few seconds and then opened
them to see the same sight again. !
even tried it again and again. fearful
that l was doing. and not wishing to
believe what l plainly saw. 1t GER
tainly was the head of venomous SER
pent, species closely resembling the
American black snake. and as deadly
as any serpent in India. 1t waved its
head and darted its tongue for a mo-
ment, and then settled back into its
coil.
AS soon as the head went down felt
for my revolver and drew back the
hammer The click! click! Warmed
the snake. as knew it would, but by
the time he had elevated his head
again l had my arm outstretched and
the muzzle of my revolver within two
feet OF him. 1t was a snapshot and
had to be made on the instant, and it
was by pure good luck that | sent
bullet through his ugly head. He was
writing and Hopping about as sprang
up, and was dead as ] bent over the
Major The snake had crept out of the
bushes and upon the Majors breast
curly in the night. 1t was not more
than midnight when he awoke and
found the serpent coiled up, and he
knew that any movement on his part
would result In certain death. For
three hours and half he had rested
o the broad of his back. never moving
a muscle. with his eyes wide open, and
that serpent's head part of the time
waving to and fro within six inches of
his face. When bent over him he
was helpless. Whom we got him off the
ground he sank down again and began
to weep. and it was fully two hours be-
fore he would talk to U.S. The result
OF his experience was that he became n
p1rfect physical coward. started at the
slightest noise, and was ready to run
from even house dog. Y Sun.
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