San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-01-22
FORTY EIGHT HOURS
With Deadly yarmints.
BY EDWARD sTAPLEToN.

Writ en- for the LIGHT
In 1882 and my wife migrated tt
Southern Texas; and, very soon,
bought cottage built on steep bluff
at the foot of which ran clear and
permanent stream bordered with
Pecan trees. beneath whose shade
expected to spend many happy hours
hooking some OF the fine fish which
every few moments fioundered on the
top of the water hunting their prey.
I wondered at the man
wishing to sell the valuable little
property at such low price, and said
to my wife-on our way with our
household goods to take possession
| "Nothipg will induce me to sell the
place. l will keep it for our summer
home" And have kept it-but if
the reader knows of any person, or
persons, wanting place of the kind
| please tell him, or her, with my COM
pliments, that am not hard man to
deal with, and that / will sell on the
easiest of the Easy Installment
Plan"
Our first day was spent in arrang-
ing the furniture, hanging pictures
and planting creepers, doing every
thing, in fact, to make our little home
haven of bliss.
was up before the sun the follow
ing morning, and taking my gun
whistled for my favorite dog Jim-a
white unframed setter, babe my wife
have breakfast in about an hour and
walked away setting the words to
music, "I'm Monarch of all / Survey,
&C., &C." 1 smacked my lips in an
ticipation of having quail galore
at the small cost of q few grains
of powder. I had not travelled far
when 1 spied covey of plump birds
running in front of me, the tempta-
ton was great to take an unsports-
manlike shot; 1 blazed away; the
ground seemed strewn with quail in
their death struggles; 1 gathered
nine, some 1 know escaped and were
not to be found without a dog. I
whistled for Jim; he answered with
loud barks some distance away,
knew at once that his untutored mind
had led him to do little hunting
on his own account and had run
something to earth, so went to help
him; 1 found he had dug a consider
able hole which ran under bush of
cactus. 1 cut slender stick, probed,
and felt the soft body of what / con-
sidered q rabbit, it was not more than
a foot from the mouth of the hole. I
thought I would be more humane
than had been to the quail, by Civ
ing it a chance for it's life in turning
it loose and trusting to my gun
to stop it. ran my hand
up the hole and bent my
middle finger around it's hind leg.
There was no resistance, which sur
prised me. pulled, and 10! found
L held q rattlesnake whose wide open
mouth was within few inches of my
hand. 1t must have been in state
of semi-torpor or it surely would have
bitten me, or at least ratified.
quickly let go my hold, when the
snake seemed to realize its danger.
1t coiled in an instant and ratified
furiously. Both 1 and the dog started
back. At the same moment the rattler
jumped and buried its fangs in the
toe of my shoe. ] was scared half to
death but shook my foot vigorously;
1t held fast and wound itself around
my leg. ! felt my hair rising from
the roots, expecting every moment to
feel the prick of its poisonous fangs,
when Jim, who had made several at
tempts to give the snake sly bite
rushed boldly up and grasped it about
six or eight inches from the head and
shook it as hard as ever dog shook
Suddenly he yelped; the snake had
him by the ear. My poor dog! knew
it would soon be all over with him
if something was mot done at once.
Jim" said, "its your only chance.
/ hope l shall not blow your b lead
off" / raised my gun, watched my
chance, aud fired. AS soon as the
smoke cleared / saw Jim bounding
away like a streak of light. His
hind part seemed to be urg-
ing him to greater speed by crowd
ing his fore-legs. Though anxious
about his wounds, could not help
laughing. The hind part of the
snake lay writhing near by,
but its head and poor Jim's ears
were scattered over the earth in
mincemeat. 1t saved his life; for it
was not half minute from the time
he was bitten till he owned but one
ear, and he always carries his head
knowingly on one side.
Icould have killed one or two more
snakes as made my way home, but
was too anxious to be out of the
neigh borhood of such deadly foes. AS
soon as possible L examined my boot
and my toes especially, the latter
were perfectly sound, but the former
bore the marks OF poisonous fangs. I
never wore those shoes again, but
kept them to enable me to illustrate
to my friends the narrow escape /
had.
began to think during the day
my predecessor must have had some
Cor nnllilnrr III l,rnL.LrE.r