Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-06-01
THE VERGE OF DEATH
TOM CAT AGAINST A
RATTLESNAKE.
drteen Rattles and a aButton-A
Life Saved by a Tom Cat.

ftIh1rCeen RaGGleS anu QabuCGO1-t a.
Life Saved by a Tom Cat.
Eyes, sir; it saved my life, an
Astor's wealth could not purchas'
(itI IWould part with everything
possess first aud starve afterward
The speaker was young car
psnter of this city, the unpurchas
sable "it" an ordinary lookin,
tom cat, with three dark latera
stripes extending from shoulde:
toSdank on both of its sides, ant
the person addressed, the writer
who confesses to having made 9
futile but wicked attempt to con
vert the priceless tabbY into 6
Ham burg steak with his bootjacl
o1lthe night previous, says the
'[SanF Francisco Examiner.
iYou see," continued the
SPEAKER, picking the cat up in his
arms and stroking it's fur with his
hand, while the mouser began to
pun and rubbed it's whiskers
against it's owners arms, 'less
than six months ago it saved me
from a horrible death. You want
toKnow how it happened? Twas
this way: I was building houses
foIthe Indian Department on the
CROW Reservation in Montans.-
81 was working convenient to
theBig Horn River, and had to
sleepin an old SHACK built on
the outskirts of a little eopse, in
which there was a dense under
greWth of willow, rosebush and
wild currants, which the Indians
said contained swarms of rattle
snakes. Until then I had not seen
anHreptiles, but I had heard the
noise Of their rattle many a time.
l had q half breed Indian helping
ma who owned the cat. One after
nodn last July he went to the river
tdget.a drink.
+u'fss rvrrrrro .-or1,- -rp.zvr-s-=er
minutes after came running to me
squeezing the thumb Of his right
hand, while his copper colored
features had assumed a cadaverous
hue, He had been bitten by a
rattlesnake. I tied a handkerchief
around his arm, while an old
Indian sucked the wound. Despite
the primitive remedies of the
medicine man. and the medical
aid of the doctor from the agency
who was sent for, the man died
the next day, suffering intense
agony.
"After the funeral the Indians
set fire to the copse, and, forming
& circle around it, they killed
number of snakes that were at
tempting to escape from the fire
That nightI was thinking ovsl
the fate of my late companion be-
fore going to sleep, while the ca
purred pleasantly upon my shoulder
I had about another weeks worl
to do there and 1 fervently wished
myself through with the job.
went to sleep consoling myself will
the thought that all of the snake
in the neighborhood had been ak
terminated.
"Being very tired I slept unit
late the next day and when
opened my eyes the sight that me
my gaze almost paralyzed me witt
terror. Coiled on my bosom it
head erect and ready to strike
and it's large eyes scentillatin'
with rage, was a large rattlesnak
I was too Mortified to move, am
to add to my dread I could hea
the rattle of another reptile unde
my bed. I do not know the exac
time had been watching tina
snake after I awoke. 1t might hav
been Is seconds BUTT seemed t
me a lifetime.
, "The first thing I kenw I SAY
the cats paw descend upon tn
fnake's head like a stroke of light
ming, and the next moment tn
: squirming, shiny thing was fun
! upon the floor. With a bound
jumped up in the bed and graspin
!, aheavy stick that stood convenien
I smashed the rbptile's head int
. a pulp. The other snake the
. showef fight, but it was dispatche
. as quickly as it's mate.After maxim
sure that there was no snake i
E the hut I picked up the cat an
col ~ 49, I or,,,n1