Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-04-26
s.I d Il A CAT.
5l,7 a San Francisco Feline Is
Loved by It's EI-lstor.
The Little Animal Comes to the Rescue
at a Critical Moment-A Thrilling ADD
venture with a Couple of
mathematics.


Yes, sir; it saved my life, and
Astor's wealth could not purchase it.
| would part with everything / possess
irst and starvc afterwards
The speaker was young carpenter
IF this city, says the San Francisco
,laI&iner, and tho unpurchasablc ''it''
n ordinary looking tomcat, with three
ark lateral stripes extending from
shoulder to flank on each of its sides,
Ind the person addressed, the writer,
who confesses to having made futile
but wicked attempt to convert the
priceless tabby into Hamburg steak
with his bootjac!1 on the night previ-
Gus.
You see, SIR continued the
speaker, picking the cat up in his
arms and strol1ing it's fur with his
hand, while the mouser began a
gentle purr and rubbed it's whiskers
againGt its owners arm, LESS than six
months ago it saved me from a
horrible death. You want to know
how it happened? Twas this way: /
was building houses for the Indian
department on the Grow reservation in
Montana. was working convenient
to the Big Horn river and had to sleep
in an old shack built on the outskirts
of little copse, in which there was a
| dense underground of willow, rose
bush and wild currants, which the
Indians said contained swarms of
rattlesnakes. Until then l had not
seen any of the reptiles, but had
heard the noise of their rattle many a
time. had half-breed Indian help
ing me, who owned the cat. One
afternoon last July he went to the
river to get a drink. Ten minutes
afterwards / heard him give terrific
yell, and a few minutes after he came
running toward me squeezing the
thumb of his right hand, while his cop
per-colored features had assumed a ca
daverous hue. He had been bitten by
a rattlesnake. l tied handkerchief
around his arm, while an old Indian
sucked the wound. Despite the prim.
tive 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 a
circle around it, they killed number
of snakes that were attempting to es
cape from the fire. That night was
thinking over the fate of my late com
panion before going to sleep, while the
cat purred pleasantly upon my shout
der. had about another weeks work
to do there and fervently wished my
! self through with the job. I went tc
| sleep consoling myself with the
\ thought that all of the snakes in thai
neighborhood had been exterminated
Being very tired, 1 slept until late next
| day and when / opened my eyes the
sight that met my gaze almost par
| alyzed me with terror. Coiled on my
bosom, its head erect and ready tx
| strike, and it's large eyes scintillatine
with rage, was large rattlesnake.
1 was too Mortified to move, and to ado
to my dread could hear the rattles O.
another reptile under my bed. l d.
not know the exact time had beer
watching that snake after awol1e. L
might have been fifteen seconds, Su
it seemed to me lifetime. The frs
thing I knew 1 saw the cats paw de
scend upon the snakes head like {
! stroke of lightning, and the next mo
ment the squirming, Shiny thing wa
flung upon the floor. With bound
jumped up in the bed, and, grasping 1
heavy stick that stood convenient,
smashed the reptiles head into pulp
The other snake then showed fight
but it was dispatched as quickly as it
mate. After making sure that Their
was no other snake in the hut picket
up the cat, and to my joy found it I'm
harmed. I measured the reptile iron
which the cat SO timely rescued me
and found it to be three feet six inche
long, having one hundred and sixty
seven scuta on the body and its tai
had thirteen rattles. The other snal
was not so large. The fire in tn
copse had driven the reptiles into tn
shack, and were it not for the cat
would have met the fate of the hall
breed Indian. No, sir, money canno
buy this cat"