The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-03
SAVED By 4 CAT.
Why & San Francisco Feline Is
Loved by It's Master.
The Little Animal Comes to the Rescue
at = Critical MculeRt-A THRILLING; Adj
venture with Couple of
E3ttlesnakes-

YES, SIR: it saved my life. and
Astor's wealth could not purchase IL
/ would part with evcrything | possess
first and starve afterwards"
The speaker was young carpenter
OF this city. says the san Francisco
Examiner, and the unpurchasable 1T
an ordinary looking tomcat. with three
dark lateral stripes extending from
shoulder TO hanh on each of its sides.
and the person addressed, the writer
who cCnfosses to having made futile
but wicked attempt to convert the
priceless tabby into a Hamburg steak
with his bootjack on the night previ-
Gus.
You see. sir" continued the
speaker. picking the cat up in his
arms and strokiug its fur with his
hand. while the nouscr began a
gentle purr and rubbed its whisl.ers
against its owners arm, less than si,,
months ago it saged RE from a
horrible death. You want to know
how it happened? Twas this way:
was building houses Tor 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 a little copse. in which there was
dense underground of willow. rose
bush and wild currants, which the
Indians said contained swarms OF
rattlesnakes. Until then | had not
seen any of the reptiles, but | had
heard the noise of their rattle many g
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 n 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 ca
daverous hue. lie had been bitten by
a rattlesnake. ] tied a 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 week 5 work
to DO there and / fervently wished my
self through with the Job. | went to
sleep consoling myself with the
thought that all Of tho snakes IN that
neighborhood had been extcrIninated.
Being very tired. l slept until late next /
day and when / opened my eyes the T.
sight that met my gaze almost par /
alyzed me with terror. C0ilcd on nay /
bosom, its head erect and ready to f
strike, and its large eyes Gcintillat.nR (
with rage, was large rattlesnake. | /
was too horrided to move, and 70 add /
to my dread ! could hear the rattles Of /
another reptile under my bed | do /
not know the exact time / had been I
watching that snake after ! avvOke. II /
might have been fifteen seconds. bat
il seemed to me a lifetime. The Grst !
thing knew / saw the cats paw de-
scend upon the snakes head like a
stroke Of lightning. and the next mo-
ment the squirIning. Shiny thing was
flung upon the floor. With a bOrnd /
jumped up in the bed, and, grasping a
heavy stick that stood convenient, /
smashed the reptiles head into pulp.
The other snake then showed nght,
but it was dispatched as quickly as its
mate. After making sure that there
was no other snake in the hut picked
up the cat, and 10 nay joy found It I'M
harmed. / measured the reptile from
which the cat 50 timely rescued me,
and found II 10 be three feet six inches
long, having ons hundred and sixty
seven scuta on the body and It's tail
had thirteen rattlcs Z ae other snake
was not so large. The fire il the
copse had driven the reptiles into the
shack. and were il not for the rat
would have met the fate % the half
breed Indian. 10, sir. money cannot
buy this cat