The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-05-09

de tried IT. anyhow, ana tnroWed
his mem'ry back"
'Tf ye don't know it, Sol, ye'd orter,"
said he, ''that when snakes hunks in
fer winterin' over they hain't p'tic'lar
what each others names Is or whar
they come from. Snakes that's ppson
an snakes that's unprson all turns IN
together like lovin' brethren, though
durin' the summer the prson fellers
an the unpi'son fellers has an ugly
grudge ag'in one another, enough to
make human bein' weep But when
cold weather comes along an the
snakes begins to hunt fer their dens
all O. them grudges seems to be
dropped an rattlesnakes, an black
snakes, an milk snakes, an BLOWN
adders. an garter snakes, an copper
heads, an hoop snakes, an all kinds o.
snakes, them with juice in their jaws
that'll kill a bull, an them that's ez
harmless ez suckin' doves, holes In to-
gether, an twists their sells inter big
balls ez lovin' an tender ez pieces o.
ribbon tied inter a true lovers knot.
I've see lunches O. snakes, b'gosh, tied
up bigger'n bushel basket, layin' out
in front o. their dens on nice sunny Oc-
tober days an I've thrashed enough
rattlesnakes outen them heaps to make
bar'l of oil
Zone October, long to'ards the latter
eend O the month, were takin' a
leetle Jog through the woods In the
Sugar Swamp deestrio', not p'tic'lar
lookin' fer bar, but not by no means q
ca'clatin', If l did see one, to shet my
eyes an hold my breath till he passed
by. The day were warm, an about
noon l ruther wished I'd "a shouldered
my fail Std O. my gun, fer I know'd
where could go an gether In a big
crop o. snake oil l kinder logged over
to the spot, anyhow, an ez / were
drawin' nigh the den in the rocks,
see pooty good-sized bar, lookin' the
rocks over in slow an easy way, an
/ know'd to wunst that he were pickin'
hisself out place to hole up in the
comm winter, ---ough 1t want time
fer him to bunk in yit. not fer a good
while. stopped an watched the bar
a spell. an poOty soon what does he do
but slide hisself inter big hole in the
rocks without talkin' the trouble to
knock or nothin,.
"'Mr. Bar says I, poorly nigh
larfin' right out, if the interestin' fam
'ly that giner'ly rents them premises is
occupyin' of it now, an is to home
SAYS /, I've a sort o. notion that yen
git welcome in there that'n be apt to
be a s'prise party to ye; leastways,'
says I, If know snakes ye will"
Il hadn't hardly got through whis-
perrin O. that when heerd the sort o
snort that bar gifts rid Of when ne
wants it to be understood, b'gosh, that
he hain't pleased durn bit, an the
mex second the bar come outen the
hole back ards, an leavin' no doubt
that he were comm out in a big hurry.
He want long gittin' out, an he
were the amazinest lookin' bein' ever
sot eyes on. Hangin' to his nose were
an all slammin' big rattlesnake, an
an other un were danglin' from one o
the bars ears A blacksnake, that
must "a BEN more'n ten foot long,
were twisted round the bars body
from his hind legs up to his neck, like
q big grapevine round tree. The
blacksnake were jist more'n squeezin'
the bar, fer the bars tongue stuck
out an his eyes was bulgin'. Foller-
In the percession kim passed. O. cop
perheads an more blacksnakes, an
a rattlin' and sissin' congregation o.
rattlesnakes, an ev'ry durn sarpint
were madden n the earRche. The cop
perheads d dash up an give the bar
dip with their fiery teeth, any place
where they could git dip in, an the
rattlers d slide along, curl up quick
ern flash, and sock two or three
mouthfuls O. hot p'ison inter him, here
an there an everywhere. The black
snakes topped an danced an jumped
around the bar like wild Injuns,
twistin' about him and outtwistin, an
givin' him choke an a squeeze at
ev'ry turn.
at were ez plain ez the nose on yer
face, Sol, that the poor bar hadn't
never ben tackled by snakes afore, an
fust along he didn't seem to know how
to handle hisseH.
"'Goshr says. This hain't hardly
q fair shakel But says /, 1t hain't
none o. my funer'L won't mix myself
up in the row. says Let 'em salt
their own pork, says
"But pooty soon ! see that the bar
were gittin' his dander up The big
| blacksnake that were squeezin' him ez
II he were in wise were jist about to
give the screws q turn that'd
squashed the bars ribs, sure ez guns,
when the bar took hand in the muss
hisself He grabbed that big black
snake with his forepaws, snatched it
often him in a jiffy. an snapped it
inter more'n twenty chunks fore
could "a said 'bangr Then he reached
for the rattlesnake that were chawin'
at his nose, an for the one that were
workin' hole through his ear, an
Slated 'em inter mush In the rocks.
Then he backed up ag'in tree, and
know'd the fun were Rointer open. He
reached out an snatched two black
snakes, each by the head, one In his
right paw an t'other un In his left.
Sol, he used them snakes, and the
littlest Of 'em wasn't an inch less'n
eight feet long, jist like mule driver
d use his whip. He cracked 'em around
like mad, an cv'ry time he give cut
with one, off went the head of a rat
| tier or copperhead or another black
snake, jist ez sure ez the bar cut an
slashed The bar kept that snake
whiplash o. his'n snappin' an
craclxin' fer more'n fifteen minutes, an
snake heads were scattered around
like chips from chopin, till tina
want another snake left o. the hull
den, leastways, not unless he had
turned tail an TUX to the woods. Then
the bar quit cuttin' an slashin'. His
two blaclxsnake whips were shattered
out, an considerable slimpsy. an the
the bar broke 'em inter bits an slung
'em around permisc'ous. I've see a
good many excitin' an hair-raisin'
reecryations In the woods Solomon,
but that air were leetle the hair
raisin est--that an what followed.
"Arter the bar had kinder looked
over the battlefield little, he turned
around and clumb the tree. He went
way up an stretched hissclf on
branch. watched him . minute, an
then l says:
".Hes too durn tired to ever git
rested to-day. says. ! guess ] bet
&4.Sl.& a.