The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-05-24
On the Verge of Death.

"Yes, sir; it saved my life, and AS
tors wealth could not purchase it. I
would part with everything possess
first and starve afterward.
The speaker was young carpenter of
this city, the unpurchasable sit" an or
dinary looking tom cat, with three dark
lateral stripes extending from shoulder
to flank on both Of it's sides, and the per-
son addressed, tho writer, Who confesses
to having made futile but wicked at
tempt to convert the priceless tabby into
Hamburg steak with his boo'jack on
the night previous, says the San Francis
co Examiner.
"You see, sir" continued the speaker;
picking the cat up in his arms and
stroking its fur with his hand, while the
mouser began to purr and rubbed its
whiskers against its owners arms, "lesS
than six months ago it saved ME from a
horrible death. You want to know how
it happeDed7 Twas this way I was
building houses for the Indian Depart
ment on the Crow Reservation in Mon
tana.
81 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 dense under.
growth of willow, rosebush and wild
currants, which the Indians said contain
ed swarms of rattlesnakes. Until then l
had not seen any of the reptiles, but I
had heard the noise of their rattle many
a time. had half breed Indian help.
ibg me, who owned the cat. One after.
noon last July he went to the river to get
drink.
"Ten minutes afterward I heard him
give q terrific yell, and few minutes at:
ter came running to me squeezing the
thumb of his right hand, while his cop.
per colored features had assumed ca.
daverous hue. He had been bitten by
rattlesnake. I tied handkerchief
around his arm, while an old Indian
sucked the wound. Despite the primi
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, shd, forming circle around
it, they killed number Of snakes that
we're attempting to escape from the fire.
That night l was thinking over
the fate of my late companion before
going to sleep, while the Get purred
pleasantly upon my shoulder. I had
about another weeks work to do there
and I fervently wished myself through h
with the job. went to sleep. consoling
myself with the thought that all of the
snakes in the neighborhood had been ex-
terminated.
"Being very tired 1 slept until late the
next day and when Iopened my eyes the
sight that met my gaze almost paralyzed
me with terror. Coiled on my bosom it's
head erect and ready to strike, and it's
large eyes seentillating with rage, was q
large rattlesnake. / was too horri6ed to
move, and to add to my dread I could
hear the rattle of another reptile under
my bed. I do not know the exact time
I had been watching that snake after l
awoke. 1t might have been Is seconds
but it seemed to ne lifetime.
''The frst thing 1 knew l saw the cats
paw descend upon the snakes head like
a stroke of lightning, and the next mo-
ment the aduirmiDg, Shiny thing was
flung upon the floor: With bound |
jumped up in the bed and grasping q
heavy stick that stood convenient, I
smashed the reptiles head into pulp
The other snake then showed fight, but
it was dispatched as quickly as its mate.
After making sure that there was no
snake in the hut 1 picFed up the cat an d
to my joy found it unharmed.
81. measured the reptile from which
the cat so timely rescued me, and found
it to be 8 feet 6 inches long, having l67
scuta on the body and its tail had 13
rsttles. The other snake was not so
large. The fire in the copae had driven
the reptiles into the SHACK, and were it
not for the cat would have met the fate
of the half-breed Indian. No, sir mon
ey cannot buy this cat"