Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-01
SAVED BY A CAT.
Why q Young Man Has Lasting Fondness
for Feline.

for Feline.
From the San Francisco Call.
YES sir; it saved nv life, and Astor's wealth
could not purchase it. l would part with every
thing possess frs and starve afterward''
The speaker was Jacob Myers, young car
penter, and tine unpurchasable lit" an ordinary
looking tomcat, with three dark lateral stripes
extending from shoulder to flank on each of its
sides, and the person addressed the writer, who
confesses to having made futile but wicked
attempt to convert the priceless tabby into a
Hamburg steak with his bOotjack on the night
previous
''You see sir" continued the speaker pick
ing the cat up in his arms and strokiny its fur
with his hand, while the mouser began a gen.
tie pur and rubbed its whskers against it's
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 build
ing houses for the Indian department on the
Crow reservation in Montana. l 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 a dense UNDER
growth of willow, rose bush and wild currants
which the indians said contained swarms of
mathematics. Until then had not seen any OF
the reptiles. but had heard the noise of their
rattle manv a time. had a half-breed Indian
helping me who owned the cat. One afternoon
last July he went TO the river to get a drink
Ten minutes afterward heard him give a ter
rifle yell, and few minutes after ne came
running toward me squeezing the thumb Of
his right hand while his unprecedented features
had assumed "A cadaverous hue. He had been
bitten by a rattesnake. / 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 doc
tor from the agency, who was sent for the man
died the next day, suffering intense agony. AZ
ter the funeral the Indians set fire to the copse,
and forming circle around it they killed q
number OF snakes that we're attempting to es-
cape from the fire. That night / was thinking
over the fate Of my late companion before go
ing to sleep, while the cat purred pleasantly
upon my shoulder. had about another week s
work to do there and fervently wished myself
through with the job. went to sleep consol-
ing myself with the thought that all of the
snakes in that neighborhood had been extermi-
mated. Being very tired l slept until late next
day, and when opened my eyes the sight that
met my gaze almost paralyzed me with terror
Coiled on my bosom, its head erect and ready
to strike and its large eyes scintilla.ing
1 was too horrifed to move and to add to my
dread 1 could hear the rat;les of another reptile
under my bed. do not know the exact time
had been watching that snake after l awoke.
1t might have been fifteen seconds, but 1t
seemed to me a lifetime. The first thing
knew l saw the cats paw descend upon the
snakes head like q stroke of lightning. and the
next moment the squirming, Shiny thing was
flung upon the floor. With a bound l jumped
up in the bed, and. srasping heavy stick that
stood convenient. l smashed the reptiles head
into pulp. The other snake then showed fight,
but it was dispatched Is quickly as its mate.
After making sure that there was no other
snake in the hut picked mp the cat, and to my
Joy found il unframed. measured the reptile
from which the cat SO timely rescued ME. and
found it to be three feet inches long. having
1877 scuta on the body and it's tail had thirteen
rattles. The other snake was not so large The
fire in the copss had driven the reptiles into
the shack and were it not for the cat would
have met the fate Of the half-bresd Indian. No,
sir, money cannot buy this cat