Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-07-30
TWO LITTLE SNAKE STORIES.
Told by "a Truthful Man from the
pu,,om Lands of Arkansas.

l@t LOUIS CLIQUE ~ iIlNAlAAff
Now that the tenants on his plantation
have laid by" their crops and the hiatus
between cultivatlng and gathering cotton
is on. the man from the bottom country IS
I'm ST. Louis renewing his acquaintance
with urban life. and RECALLING his friends
with plain tales Of the beasts, birds, ana
reptiles Of the great State Of Arkansas.
He had lust concluded a discourse on the
fondness Of the raccoon for watermelons
Yesterday. and was experimenting the
construction Of a sherry cobbler when
tn. conversation turned on the strange
alliance that was formed by Nose Harkle-
roads's coon dog, Prince, and king
snake that lived under Ferguson's smoke
house and Kept the place clear Of the
other snakes.
prince was great coon dog. and
Nose Harkleroads was proud Of him. one
day in August, '93, think it was. a rat
tlesnake bit Prince on the lip 1t hap
pened near old Ferguson's, where there
was n social gathering Princes head
swelled up as big as nail-keg, and we
all advised that he be shot but he seemed
20 catch on 10 what we were talking
about. and sneaked of and crawled under
the smoke-house. II was supposed that
he would die there, and old Ferguson
was a little hufy when he thought Of
having 10 tear up the floor. He didn't
have 10 do that, though, for three days
later Prince crawled out. The swelling
was gone out Of his head and out OF his
body. too. for that matter, but that was
because he hadn't had anything 20 eat.
The cook fed him, and pretty soon he
went back under the smoke-hous-. He
STAYED there for a week. only coming out
10 his meals. and by that time he was
fat and strong as ever.
Then the FergusOns noticed that
Prince and the king snake We're chums.
When the dog got entirely well he ana
the king snake Join d forces Ike, and
they set out hunlng rattlers. There's no
telling how many they killed. They
cleaned up all there were around Fer
guson's place and good many cotton
mouths and water mOccasins; then they
went over to HarkierOads's and kept
up the fight II they found RATHER on
open ground they would hold a council
OF war. and the king snake would par
Prince would tackle him IN the rear. or
course this would confuse the ratuer,
and the first thing he knew Prince would
have him by the back Of the neck. and
shake his iii. out Then n the king snake
were hungry he would swallow Tie rattler.
well. Primo and the king snake kept
this up till cold weather; then the King
went into winter quarters. Prince pinefl
for him for few days. then went and
brought him in, and put him under the
stove In old Fergus0n's kitchen. Miss
Kate Ferguson wanted 10 Kill the snake
but Prince stood over IL and protected
il. ana II was finally decided - let tbs
/ dog and snake alone 10 see what they
would do. When the king thawed out h
/ stuck his head up 10 Princes nose. and
| they seemed 10 discuss the situation
| Then he curled himself around Prince
/ and they went 10 sleep. That dog anC
/ that snake lived together all winter. ant
| when spring came they went right bach
10 killing rattlers.
! but the funniest thing they ever I'D
was TO break In team OF blue racers
and make them draw n wagon. The chill
/ dren used 20 hitch Prince up IN a littl.
cart they had. and make him haul ZEN
! around He was an accommodating dog
/ but trlt sort Of thing used TO interior,
| with his rattlesnake hunts. and | CUES.
| he and the King snake considered tbs