Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-02-24

oEM-patS 6lF0auy ana ms Lal1 Isn't owe
 my instep yet. think he's .. mil
 long and weighs a thousand pounds tx
 the inch. Tho fires all right, isn't it
 Now como hero and get the blanket.
 away from me. The cussed reptile il
 lying on top of me along my left leg
 and side. Begin on the right side, anG
 work easy.'
 "Jellison's blankets were tucked
 tightly under him. and it was a ticklish
 proceeding to pull their edge from be-
 meath him without moving his body
 with the chance that at any moment
 might encounter the head of his un.
 welcome visitor. Jellison swore from
 tlme to time with suppressed emotion
 as Jarred him ever so little and kept
 saying: Work easy!' Finally I got the
 Dlankets clear on one side, and gently
 lleeo them away from his body. He
 had turned in with his shirt, trousers
 ana stockings on, and by the freight I
 saw protruding from the left trousers
 leg SIX Inches of the tail of Q snake
 tipped with big rattle. The reptile
 ~nlch had sought his present quarters
 Tor warmth evidently did not like the
 sensation of the cold air on the er-
 posed extremity, for there was tmmedf-
 ately an ugly wriggling movement under | Jelnson's s clothes, and the snakes tail
 disappeared upward clear to the rattle. 1 With all his nerve and coolness. tho suspense was telling on Jellison. His face showed white in the firelipbt and
 the cold sweat stood in big drops on his | forehead. The snakes head Ia m +o my shirt collar now,' he gasped. .Take your hunting knife and rip mv clothes open on the right side. His cold body IS taking all the strength out of me- Work quick and don't mind the riaL of cutting mo-
 My hunting knife was as sharp as a razor, but strapped it a little on my boot to give it an extra fine edge, and, working SO as not to disturb the snake. l began at Jellison's right shoulder and cut clean through his clothes from the sn1rt collar to the bottom of the left trousers leg. Then stepping round to the otfer side and holding the garments so as they would servo as a shield, I laid .hcm over on the left so as to leave 'elllsons body exposed. A huge rattle snake lay the wholo longth of the mans body, It's tail resting On his instep, and i's pig triangular head feposing in the ilo!low ot hls throat. The reptile, on nelnG uncovered, curved his neck a ilttle by drawing up his body so as to LOOK behind and sco the cause of it's be- Ing disturbed, then threw itself half in a coll, assuming the form of the letter o' With its head turned backward to- ward me. 1t thon lay wholly on tn. oooy or Jelllson. remained perfectl, stili' except to take a pasition so that should not ea between the snake ant tho hre, and thero waited.
 The reptile kept his position fo a"alle, anu Jellison Was beginning t, rec! the chill of the frosty air, so tha ms body shook in spite of himself. Ru the cold was telling on the snako like "lse' and the warmth of the fire ap Pealed to it's feelings. As kept auieti ceaseo to regard me, aad began to nov SLOWLY toward Inc blaze, and present. slae entirely of the body of the ma. and glided over the blankets toward tn fire. VII
 By the time the snake was a lengtl away l had caught Jellison by tn sAoalders and pulled him up standin. l threw pair of blankets over hi shoulders, for he was shaking as with fit of the aguc.
 "'Now, old man. I said, you're al right. Hold still till k;l, the snake.'
 'H-h-hold ohr said Jellisou, hi teeth clis,ktng as he shivered with colo and the reaction from his nervous ten. Slon. 'N-n-no m-m-man k-kills thal snake but m-m-mer
 up to this point no snake had eve, been treated with greater consideration. and we had deferred to it's preiudices a, every stage of the proceedings The | reptlle-a mountain monster over five feet long-was lying in coil near the hre' basking comfortably in the glow, but Keeping it's eye on us at every turn. telAson picked up revolver, and ap- preaching to within g few feet of the snake, hred six shots into the coil as if It did him good to do so. By the time he had emptied the pistol the snake was lead, and pretty thoroughly cut to pieces. The rest of the boys had slept through all that had been gong on, but 1t the sound of the first shot they came tumbltng up in hurry, with their guns in hand, ready for Indians. The busi- ness was over, however, and tAere was nothing for them to da,
 "Je!1lsoA spout the next day in camp, with needle and thread trying to get ais clothes sewed together. He said for weeks that he could feel that snake on lis body whenever he laid down, and he lreamed of it nights. He was with us Or several months after, and to the | ast asserted that he had never got warm all over, but had always Q cold ! treak on his bod where the snake had ain. ."-Clarence Pullen, in N. Y. Is Ledger.