Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-02-24
WONDERFUL NERVE.
Goodness Displayed by a Man in
 an Awful Predicament,

| "Speaking of snakes in ones boots,
 said the ''old timer" Sit was on this
 road in the time of its building, and in
 this same rising country we are now passing through, that man had the | worst cesa af | snAke ln his clothes that
 ever knew of, But this was no mirage
 but real, su~e-enough rattler that | crawled under the shirt of sober man. ; The Union Pacific train was then en-
 terlng the footshill. ef the Rocky Mountains. little party of passen- gers, accidental acquaintanoes, wore in
 the smoking compartment of the palace car enjoying their cigars and talking of
 matters relating to tho country throug h
 which we were travelling. The conver- sation had turned upon snakes, tho sub
 ject arising, perhaps, from the fact that 2 uammercial traveller in tho sleeping car behind us, who had for several weeks been rehearslng the overture for the occasion in the drinking places of
 Denver, had been entertained in his berth all the previous night by pano- ram1c procession composed of represent atives of the reptile kingdom in state of contorted activity. He had become somewhat worked up un1ep the per sistency at the visitation, and SO dis. turbed his fellow-passengers by vocifer- ous attempts to scare away the intruders that he had been taken from the train snd left under medical care at a wayside station. This final episode had just oc- cured, and as tho train moved on the passengers fell to talking upon the sub ject of the delirium tremens as manifest ed under the inspiring conditions of the boundless West, and, from talking of imaginary snakes, we came to the sub ject of real ones. The ''old- timer" a portly capitalist from the mining re- sion, went on with his narration, and we all listened,
 "A party of us were in those hills yonder,"' he said, "when the railroad was building, getting out ties on con- tract, and were camping one night in little grassy valley among the bluffs. We were sleeping on the bare ground in the open air. Itwas late in September, and the nights were getting cool in the mountains. and each man had turned in with his clothes on, and rolled up in all the blankets he could muster. Next to me lay an Illinois man named Robert Jellison, cool, moderate sort of fellow, p4e NtSA PAoAoS oA ACANcS uo JON oAd41 hear, Some time about midnight l was awakened by hearing Jellison call to me in low voice. My first thought on waking was that some one might be tam pering with the horses, and not wishing to make any demonstration until I found out what quarter the trouble was in, got my hand on my revolver and whis- pered, without moving:
 "'What's up, Bob? !ndiansW
 fJallison was lying on his back, per. fectly motionless. Without stirring, he spoke in the same tone as before:
 "'No, 1 wish it were. I think 8 snake has crawled up my trousers leg. Don't move only as I tell you. Don't wake the boys. He's quiet now and don't want him set agoing. But get up easy and start a fire
 ''So slipped out of my blankets, and moving around easy, raked the brands of the campfire together, piled on some wood and soon had blaze. While I did this Jellison was speaking in monot- onous tone without moving his lips.
 He's feeling his way along under my shirt, but he keeps moving up ai the time. His head is as far up as my