The Portland daily press., 1893-12-05
A MIDNIGHT SIEGE.
A Pair Of RattIers Take the Possess
sion Of Two Bedrooms.

1t Was No. an Easy Job to Dispose OF
Them-A Man Who Knew When It Was
Time to Wake Up-A Traveller Tells a
Story of Texas to His Eastern Friends.
Well, it was out in northwest Texas that
| came up with an old schoolmate who has
a wheat farm near the Palo Pinto can
yon He was glad to see me, suppose,
because was something from the old Fife,
and invited me to spend week with him.
/ accepted the invitation, but was one day
called to tAe nearest town On business and
did not get back to the farmhouse till late,
Every light WAS out and all the inmates
had evidently retired, so I determined to
gain my room without arousing them, if
possible. Fortunately found my win
dow open, and without lighting lamp /
undressed and crawled into bed. But I
could not get to sleep, and finally con-
Guided to try q cigar as a soothing tonic,
80 got up and beGSn to walk over to
where had left my clothes for my coat,
In which bad put my cigar case.
l had taken only few steps when I
heard the sharp whir-whir of rattle
snake. The sound is unmistakable, and
creep into houses in that region and some
times show fight when an attempt is made
to drive them out. / did not wait to in
vestigate his snakeship's whereabouts,
but gained my bed without touching the
floor at all, believe. 1 must have awak-
ened my hostess by my movements COM
ing in, in spite of my caution, for 1 now
heard her sing out to her husband-their
hnHrOo.s, fn r,oir,o with ,Jvvo
thin lath partition between-tOh, John,
there's rattlegnake in Mr.. Richardson's
room. heard him''
Then failing to arouse him. she called
to me: "Where is he? Do you see him?"
l answered that / did not.
The lamp was q yard or two from me,
and if 1 had had to go without light
from then until now do not believe I
would have set my bare foot to the floor
to have got one. But did not say this,
however, to the lady. There's never any
use in owning you are coward. People
will find it out soon enough. She wanted
to know then why did not get up and
kill him. 'Oh.'' said, 81 do not object
to his being here" She began to scream.
then and to try again to awaken her hus-
band, but while am firmly convinced he
was wide enough awake to take in tho sit
uation not word could she get out of
him.
I then began to get mad. The sacred
laws Of hospitality demanded that John
should arise and free his guests chamber
of all horrors except such as he himself in
troduced there from good spirits, and !
said so. Mrs. John did not, however,
view the matter in this light, and fatty re
fused to allow John to run this risk, John
still taking no part in the argument, but,
like Br'er Rabbit. kept on saying nothing
and 'tlaying low" In the meanwhile the
snake had again composed himself for
slumber, leaving Mrs. John and me to set
tie the thing as we might, until a mouse
must have run over him in the dark, for
we heard him sound his alarm, and the
next moment a shrill shrek of agony pro-
claimed that the mouse had been struck
This set Mrs. John off again, and she in
sisted that the intruder must be killed
with all my heart, madam, +" said en-
phatically. Twill you do it?''
This silenced her for a time, when
Johns SHORES grew to be something be-
yond all records of such feats. My mag
nation now commenced to grow interest
ed, and could picture that notified de-
mon of the plains crawling toward me in
the dark, stealing noiselessly up the leg
of the bed on to it and-but here Mrs
John asked, "Mr. Richardson, are you
going to kill that shaker"
/ took in every point of the situation
and replied yes, if she would hold the
light. To my surprise she said she would
And in another moment I saw the CLEAN
of light in the next room, and the COM
municating door was thrown open, and
Mrs. John, with an extra adornment of
gayly colored patched quilt over her shout
ders, hung over the foot of her bed with
lighted lamp in her hand. The rays were
thrown into my room, and by them saw
a monster RATHER coiled up within three
feet of the bed.
slipped my hand under my pillow and
secured the revolver had got into the
habit during my stay in that part of the
country of never allowing to be away from
me for Il moment, and drawing it out
cooked it.
Here Mrs. John gave new and special
sort of scream--a woman is more afraid
of firearms than Of anything else on earth
and said: ooh, Mr.. Richardson, don't
shoot You might kill John" eff
could do that, madam, would feel that
had not lived in vain,'' asserted in
deadly, cold. heavy villain tone, but re-
pented it, for Mrs. John nearly fell back
into bed with the lamp and my hopes of
Kidding my apartment of my roommate
But she recovered sufficiently to sit up
once more and hold the light in a wobbly,
hysterical sort Of Il way, and fired. The
snake, which did not hit, as only want
ed to make him lift his head so that
could dispatch him with a single shot,
now furiously threw himself into coil
and raised his ugly head, and I, aiming
as carefully us Mrs. John would let me,
fired again and sent the snake down with
bullet through his brain.
Ha, but what was this? From the next
room, from under Mrs. Johns own bed,
there sounded second rattle like note
OF defiance. And simultaneously John
awoke with suspicious suddenness. Hay
back with the happy consciousness of duty
performed and drained the sweet cup OF
Vengeance with it. "Arise, john said
in calm tones. land STAY this menace to
thy happy home,' and, blush to say, he
again SO forgot the laws of hospitality as
to bid his guest to hold his tongue.
Mrs John had ollaDsed and could only