The Opelousas courier., 1892-12-24
DUCKLNG FOR HIS LIFE
a TEXANS THRILLING ADVEE-
TURE AT A NOTED SPRING.

ADOnt to Bptnk, he sees Lne 1seHec-
ton of q Coiled ftattlesnake in the
Water-A Close Shave.
uD EEMS to me, if was going
ss to make a curious and varied
y J collection of snakes, venom
Gus and non-venomous, |
wouldn't lose any time in getting down
into Texas" said J. T. Barnett, of Ell
Paso County, to a New York Sun man.
"When | see the rattlesEake they brag
about up North here I ain amazed, for
the biggest one I've seen yet seems
dwarfsh and lamblike compared with
the interesting Texan RATHER, especially
the bloated rattler of the Staked Plains.
[ made my first acquaintance with the
ordinary rattlesnake of Texas at the time
the route of the Texas Pacific Railroad
was being located through Ell Paso
County. l was along with the engineer
corps, and one Sunday l strolled out in
the direction of the Sierra del Diablo,
whose gleamy peaks and rocSy front
were apparently not more than a rifle
shot distant, so clean cut did they stand
out against the sky, but they were ten
miles from camp. But the hills were
not the attraction of my tramp. Some
where between the foothills of the Sierra
del Diablo and camp was a famous
spring, called Rattlesnake Spring, at
which, according to the tradition of the
Indians, two big rattlesnakesw were con-
etantly on guard. The water of the
spring was alleged to have great medi,
cinal properties, but it was death to any
one who attempted to drink at the spring
unless he first killed the two rattle.
snakes, for the instant he stopped to
auaff the waters one or both of the
deadly serpants would strike him and
sink their poison fanss into him, thus
putting him out OF the way of all future
trials, %tribulation and trouble. That a
rancher had once been found lying dead
with his face at the surface OF the spring,
where he had lain down with the evil
dent purpose of quenching his thirst,
two purple missions in his temple and
his bloated body showing beyond a
question that he had been struck by q
rattlesnake while lying IN that position,
was a we'll authenticated story in that
part of Texas, and the snake that had
doubtless bitten him was killed in the
rocks at the edge of the spring by the
person who discovered its victim. Still
I had my doubts that any OF these ven
omous reptiles habitually lay in wait
there for thirsty roamers, aud the pur-
pose of my trip that Sunday was to in
vestigate the matter. | went alone, be-
cahse no n would go with me. l
found the spring. It was four miles
from the foothills in a rocky basin, and
came up from the white sand in cool
aud tempting volume. saw no sign of
the presence of rattlesnakes, although
the surroundings looked snaky enough,
and no mistake. / was hot aud thirsty,
and after a close aud careful scrutiny
all the ROCKS aud scrubby bushes
about the spring l was satisfied that if
that water was under the guardianship
of rattlesnakes they must have gone off
duty for that day at least. Still, if |
hadn't been so terribly thirsty, | believe
I would have come away without risk
ing a drink, all the same; bat as It was
a tramp of six miles back over the bar
rem Ilain that lay between me and camp
without quenehing my burning thirst
was not to be thought of, and | prepared
to lie down on the rock at one side of
the spriug, just where they had found
the dead and swollen rauchman, I sup
pose, and quench my thirst. I had bent
my face so close to the water that /
could see myself and everything about
me reflected in the crystal depths as
distinctly as in a French plate mirror.
It is, beyond question, well for me that
these reflections were SO intense and
vivid, for I paused amonent to gaze in-
to the water at the remarkable mirror
Suddenly something that I at first
thought was the reflection Of q nodding
twig or vine teniril, quickly moved by
the brisk breeze that was blowing, shot
back aud forth midway between the
CLASSY surface aud white bottom of the
but as I gazed my heat turned to
cold and my thirst was forgotten. The
swlft-moving, quivering reflection | had
was that of a twig or tendril
was the mirrored image of the long and
forked tongue of a snake, as it shot back
and forth from beneath a shelving rock,
which, seen from above, had hidden the
lurking danger from view. Coiled in a
crevice beneath that sheltering rock, not
two feet from one side of my head,
aud with part of its own fearful head
visible even by reflection, was au enor-
rattlesnake ready to strike. For
an instant I seemed ~paralyzed, but know
ing that another instant's delay would
probably be death, I ducked my head
clear to my shoulders beneath the water,
the position / was in making it impossi-
Bile for me to rise quick enough out of
danger. AS | ducked | felt the snake
| wore a heavy, ~wide-collared
flannel shirt. The snakes fangs struck
the shirt near the lower edge of the col.
lar, not an inch away from my jugular.
The instant | felt the strike I sprang to
my feet. The r~attlesnake's fangs were
fast in the collar, and It's long body
squirmed and contorted along my side
and clear to my feet. | drew my reyol.
yer as quickly as / could, and placing
the muzzle against the rattler's jaw,
blew his head to pieces. The snake fell
to the ground, and so did I. There was
more life left in me than there is in
a dishrag. It was a good while before
| got strengt h and nerve enough to gel
my feet agaia, aud if there is anyone
in the world VINO knows how it feels to
be snatched from the very jaws of dealt
/ am that person. When I had recov