Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1894-06-21
A FULL. DAY.
a hunters Tale of the Most Ex-
citing Day OF His Life.
s,"" encounter with Rattior, Too
"uoh brandy ana u Supposed Band
% in"'ans- Strange Power OF
tho Imagination.

- want to try to show. bv this nopcr
hpw- hunter can, have an interesting
anu exciting day without killing game,
=" "oFen getting a shot--that is. If he is
In arattlesnake country.
~ was some years before the vnr.
When game of every kind could be
lsund near almost all of our military
posts In New Mexico, and ut this par
.lcular time l could, from the front
ooor OF my Quarters OF the old post up
against the bluffs at Fort Union. see at
one Time nearly any and every day sew
erai hundred antelope on the plain be-
tween the post and Turkey mountain,
nve or SIX miles to tho east. There
were no locomotives, cars, telegraph
wires nor poles then to frighten them
away or make them wild.
turkey mountain runs north and
sonth, or nearly SO, and seems to have
been pushed up from below by some
gigantic force, five or six hundred feet
tat Inc highest point above the general
aeyel OF the plain on all sides OF il. IL
as about twelve or fifteen miles long
and perhaps six miles across from base
to base, lti very rocky and uneven,
and Is or was thiclxly wooded general
~ with pinc) from the northern end to
within two or three miles of the south
ern- end, Where the trees disappear or
never grew, and at which point there
is aplainly-marked crater of an extinct
volcano. My route from the post was
direct to this crater, and, of course, to
the extreme southern end OF the noun
tain.
For many miles saw no antelope or
anyothcr living thing in the shape of
man or beast. This was so remarkable
for that section of country at that time,
felt certain some unusual thing had
frightened the antelope away.
In the afternoon, when we'll abreast
of the northern end of Turkey noun
tain, but some miles to the east of it,
and about fifteen miles from the post,
l saw quite large herd of antelope
quietly grazing, and, as the cover and
wind were all in my favor, my hopes
were high for game.
approached to within sixty yards of
the herd, and was well covered by lit
tie hill or ridge, and felt almost certain
that in five minutes would have an
antelope to take back to the post.
l dismounted quickly, laid my rifle
on the ground, unfastened the lariat
from its place just behind the saddle,
took the picket pin "A my hand (thc
other end of the lariat was around the
horses necl), and then found stone
to drive it into the ground. After about
the third stroke with the stone felt a
sharp sting on the back of my left
hand, and at the same moment heard
the rattle of q snake, and saw within a
few inches of my hand the last half of
large and horrid looking rattlcsnake
just about to disappear in hole in the
ground. His tail was in the air for a
second, and his rattles seemed to wave
rs a flag in triumph, as much as to say:
"Ah, / have got you this time!' had
made it rule to kill, either by shoot
ing or with stones or sticks, every rat
tlesnake J saw. But this time ! thought
the "boot was on the other leg"
Immediately examined my hand,
aud sure enough there were two pune
tures just the distance apart to corre-
spond to the fangs of snake. was OF
course frightened almost out of my
wits, and my case looked very serious
indeed. was twelve or fifteen miles
from the doctor at the post, and knew
that very rapid ride would cause the
blood to circulate faster and send the
poison through the veins all the quick
er. and, on the other hand, If | rode
slow. theloss of time would bring about
the same results. All these things and
many more passed through my mind in
the few minutes occupied in pulling
the picket pin out of the ground and
putting the lariat back in its place.
Shooting at the antelope l don't think
entered my head. was in great doubt
how best to proceed, but finally acted
nm the rule laid down for old-fashioned
whist players-i e., when in doubt
play trump" / took drink, and
big one
I mt the flask back in the saddle
bags, picked up my rifle, and mounted
.,at once. and in few moments was go
ing at gallop toward the post and
watching all the time for the swelling
TO begin in my sn ake-bitten hand, and
to nv CONSERVATION, thought could
see it was getting larger. / also began
To feel very warm, which was to my
mind evidence that the poison was do
inc its deadly work. then pulled W
:. and took the walk, and finally halted
long enough to take another drink
knowing that if could get thoroughly
under the influence of the brandy
there would be chance for me- Ihis
fine | took "whopper"
After this rode quietly along for 8
short time and tried to cool down, and
made desperate efforts to be phil
osonber. and die, if had to, Ikea man
-ond a soldier. But soon found coult
NOT NAV that role worth cent die
not want to be a philosopher and die
not want to die. did not like the ide'
~ ali of being found on the prairie by
NV friends swelled up like a. deao
toad and black and ugly from the ef
feet of the snake bite
II all of a sudden struck me that
+, was not feeling so very, badly; In fact
= fall t,st at the minute very familiar
and rood. Thought had felt that way
Ano So o,ber occasion. | knew had
never be ore been snake-bitten'
I succeeded, after a great effort II
not looking at my bitten ,f hand ei53 for sey. Y
aroi minutes; but, finally feeling Sc
much more cheerful and hopeful de
.srn,;oed to peep at it again. trusting
that my fears had made my case %uei ,N,ei
mnro - serious than it really was. Will
his feeling slowly raised the hand IL
a ,,arv heayvl before my face.