The Arizona sentinel., 1888-08-25
STARTLING TALES.
a Very Good Bear and Equally as
 Good Snake Story.
How Hunter Was Saved From an Awful Death-Caught in Hollow Log Between Two Bears-A
 Narrow Escape.

Narrow Escape.
 A few days ago sat in the cabin of
 John C., one of the most widely
 known of all the Pike County hunters. The pine floor of the cabin was covered with the skins of many wild animals and the antlers of deer were suspended in almost every corner of the room. On the shelf were the rattles of fully one hundred snakes, many of the skins of which were in use as straps, rude clothes-lines and the like. The bleached skeleton of a bear stood guard at a gate outside, propped up by a slender little fence around it, while the un- dressed bodies of dozen hawks were nailed to adjacent outbuildings. The hunter was oiling his gun and naturally fell into reminiscent mood, during which he told a score of star ting tales. One of these, a story of a monstrous snake, whose skin shone resplendently in the sunlight, I here transcribe almost as John related it to me.
 "The snake what wore that skin" he said, saved my wuthless life." I rose and looked closer at the hand some but repulsive object. It was fully seven feet long. ''It's shrunk consid' 'ble now," he went on. "The snake what wore that skin lacked one inch of bein' eight feet long. No slouch of snake, you bet.
 Well, it was year ago las spring up on the little creek-jus' about the time when the air and yearth com mencit to git warm and snakes come out to sun theirselves.n
 Here the hunters wife came quietly into the room and took a seat upon a couch in the corner. She was deeply religious woman, and I suppose she had an idea that her presence in some occult way gave an additional credi- bility to the story of her husbands preservation from an awful death through the instrumentality of snake.
 "I wuz out gunnin' one day." said the hunter, slowly, ''and when I got to the ledge hangin' over the little creek kin show you the very place fore you go 'way-I set down onto the rock, my legs hangin' over That's a fright som prespis, that is. I measured it with a string 1 bought over at Hawley on purpus an she measured the string where them feet is marked on the floor thar-an' it was ninety-four feet an some inches-say, ninety three feet, allowin' for the stretchin' of the string. We'll, as I say, 1 was sittin' thar with | my feet hangin' down waitin' fur any | thing that might come along and think in about plantin' corn over in that lot | side of the shed, when all of student l l heard rustlin' right behin' me. l turned roun' mighty quick, you kin bet, an there was that darn snake. Well, draw'd the ramrod from my | gun and struck at it-bit it oncet, but | 1t came right at me. thought then it | was ten or twelve feet long, stid of 1 only seven, it looked so frightsome an | l alluS did hate a snake awful. w ell, | ye see hadn't had no time to git up, | and so there l sat with my legs hang in over that ledge and nothin' tween them and the rocks down below but | ninety-three feet of air. An that durn critter was onto me fore I knew it. Well, was little bit scared; tried to git up, but my foot slipped like, an so still sittin' there kept strikin' at that snake. Fore long 1 seen a good chance and grabbed mister snake by the tail to throw him down the ledge. Then, l tell ye, 1 thought my last day had come. The sudden throw with my left han, an my feet not bein' braced 'gainst nothin', the weight of the snake pulled me of'n the ledge quicker'n 
 Mercy! Did you fall down that ninety-three-foot precipice?" I asked, with some excitement.
 ''No That's the curus part of the whole proceedings. I mos forgot to tell ye, there wuz a tree big as my leg growth right straight outen the rock level like aside of me. Ye see the snake curled right roun' that tree like a whip-lash, and when I slipped offen the ledge I hung on to the snakes tail. Now, I tell ye that did stretch some. Myi Took my bre'th away, and l broke out all over in cold sweat, and jus fur a minnit I thought l mus pustuvly leggo. Then thought, sud dint like, cos I know there was sharp, broken rocks down below, an 1t wuz long way to em', an if l did leggo l would be sure killed. Then l sez: Ole man, you mus hang on somehow. After little. got my wind and begun to feel littlG ,s stren'th, but all the time that smed to be stretch in' an the sn$ in slow roun' the tree an somel s5uldn't git my lef' ]