Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1894-06-21
] thought preceded imme.


ment the right one was Just as large us
the left, and not ,nly that, there
seemed to be several pairs of hands; in
fact the air was full of them, and all |
badly snaSe-bitten. IL suddenly oc.
Cured to me that / was very drunk,
and ut the same time realized that
could not be badly poisoned or the
brandy would not have taken effect so
soon. Thinking the matter over for q
moment, remembered how hard it was
to make n man drunk who had been
bitten by rattlesnake, while had got
very drunk without the slightest diff
fculty and in short order.
When it fully dawned on my be-
numbed brain that was not bittcn,
gave one wild, joyous whoop, and then
broke out into series of Indian yells.
leane d forward, or rather fell on my
horses neck and began to laugh, and
roared in a drunken way until / was
almost exhausted, as the reaction from,
as supposed, almost immediate death
to life on the prairies, and horseback,
was almost too much happiness for my
shattered nerves.
very soon got into an argument
with myself ] seemed to be two fell
lows The sober lieutenant was say
ing to the lieutenant who was drunk
something to this effect "You are
pretty fellow, you are; scared to death
because pieces of the stone broke off
when you drove the piclSet-pin in the
ground, struck your hand, and made
the blood come, but you ought to be
court-martialed for cowardice;" and II
suppose you think you ought to have
brevet for this days work. Pretty soon
you will fall off your horse and lose
your hair"
AS the effect of the brandy began to
die out feeling of pathos crept over
me. ! wanted to weep, and felt re-
ligious. II | had had friendly breast
on which to lay my head, think ]
could have sobbed with pleasure. But
my horse would allow no fooling of
that kind about his neck; consequently
| was forced to ''sit up" and did not
enjoy myself as much as one who had
suffered SO greatly ought to have done.
A few miles farther brought me close
to some ponds, within five or six miles
of the post, and discovered there was
q small flock ofcwild geese ON them. /
thought perhaps / was near enough to
my normal condition to get the better
of goose, SO l rode off to the right
(west) of the road, dismounted with
some difficulty and made my horse
fast to some volcanic rocks; but had
not gone far towards the geese before
discovered that he seemed very much
excited, and was dashing about from
side to side and straining hard at the
lariat knew there was some unusual
cause for this, so turned about and
watched. In few minutes three or
four men ON ponies, half-mile away
to the west, showed themselves for a
second and then disappeared. The sur
face of the ground between me and
these men was rough, and although
there was no timber, a party with
care, could have approached me with,
out attracting attention under ordi-
nary circumstances; but fortunately |
looked in their direction just in time,
for, when The nature of the ground
compelled them to show themselves
again, they were much nearer and on
their third appearance were still
nearer and evidently trying to get be-
tween me and my horse.
waited for no further developments,
but returned to my impatient and
frightened horse as rapidly as possible.
knew the men were either MeXicans
or Indians, and from their manner of
riding thought they were Indians; If
SO, ! should be on horseback, as could
then fight or run away, whichever
should prove to be best.
| lost no time in unfasteniug my
horse and putting up the lariat and
making an attempt to mount For some
minutes it was only an attempt, for
just as soon as raised my foot to put
it in the stirrup he would give plunge
and try to be off. /, however, gath
cred the reins up short and tight in the
left hand, and at the same time grasped
a portion of the name with the same
hand, threw my right hand (Which
held the rife) and arm well over the
saddle, quickly placed my left foot in
the stirrup, and made quick spring
and threw my right leg over the cantle,
but failed to take an upright position,
as the horse gave bound forward at
the same time / made tho spring to
mount, which left me hanging on his
side like monkey who was trying to
dodge the whip of the "ring-master"
on the other side. With me hanging in
, this ungraceful position my horse went
laundering across the plain to the east,
in the direction of the road, as if Old
Nick was after him, and 1t was a run
of nearly quarter of mile before
,, got into the saddle. If had been in q
circus ring and had performed such a
feat of riding on my horses side, /
would have brought down the house :"
As soon as got well into the saddle
l regained control of the horse and
brought him down to walk, and al
most Immediately was in the road lead
ing to the post, Looking back, l saw
/, the men occupying the position l had
,, just left.
had had what one might call "a full
day." | had ridden over thirty miles,
been bitten, as l supposed, by a rattle
snake, got drunk and sober, was at the
point of death and had recovered, and
all this within twelve hours of the same
day.
; l rode quietly to my quarters dis
mounted, sent my horse to the stable,
and went to bed, feeling thankful that
| had back and comfortable place
to put it.-United Service Magazine
Our passions are like convulsion
, fits, which. though they make us
: stronger for the time. leave us the
, weaker ever after r-Swift