The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-10-03

nat nave . given hitn-brCndy?
That's riRht. How much2'
"a bottlCful."
Right. aud you've kept him awake?
THAT'S 1t, He won't die, now. Wonder
ful fellows, these GiCaYerH. Hold have
died before This II no meant diving,
Let's see the wound"
Tie candle burned rs quietly In the
STU air MS In Il room. Tho MrXican's
foot was swollen, 50 that It scarcely
looked like q human member; but In
tho midst OF the purple swelling was n
white circle With the little blue mark,
plainly evident, for Its centre. The
Mexican seemed Il feel no pain, even
when the doctor handled ths wound
and pressed It upward with his fingers.
Hold the candle close he said. ITS
blamed strange" he added, blamed
strange" pcCkIng at the little pbluo
mnrh with his forccpg; "thc fnnE'a In
thu wound yet. | never heard OF that
happening before. Shake him Il Bit;
don't let him go dr0wsy."
Ills swollen limbs wobblcd like Jelly
undcr the treatment. It was horrld.
me doctor gave a little dig. and then
a little tug With his fucCps. Presently
he held w to the candle, in the clutch
or the f0rccps, Il long white spine, and
regarded It c%urlousIy.
Then he said In Il hollow voice: do
you Know what II IL? It's not q fang ut
all; IT'S n cactus-splke."
What"
y strangely pcrlcXcd little Eroup Of
men gn2ei Into each others faces with
questioning eyes, under TIN stars that
twinkled GU owe the snow-tupped
edges OF the Slcrras.
only n horn!'
Look at IT," the doctor said. "You
can see the thing for yourselves"
Onc after the other we examined tho
spine. feeling It's point with n finger
that We certainly should not have ven
tured near It had II been II poison
fanS' And there's nothing else In the
wound?" Jock asked.
Not a thing else
And you mean to tell me that I've
wasted two hours of my time. TO snv
nothing OF a bottle Of our best brandy,
In Walking about n GrcIacr that has
nothing the matter but Il thorn In his
foot? Well. am darncd."
That about what you've been do
Ing" the doctor said quietly.
We'll, | ain darncd." Jock turned
with a look Of righteous wrath to the
wrctchCd Mexican. who was lying in n
comatose heal. In my arms; hut the first
sight of his face checked the words un.
| spoken.
"Shake him up: keep him w]akIng;"
the doctor cried.
but you DOME mean to tell me" Jock
began again, when he had succeeded
In ~arousing some sign Of life In Louie.
that nll that" pointing nj hlg distead-
ed TEXTURES, us th- ClCtuS-thorn?"
There's not L mite else in the
wound"
Well. I am darncd."
"All the same" the doctor added
quietly. he'd have died K You hadn't
kept him going"
Died. What off,
"Snnke-b!te-shaSe him up there;
don't let him go drowsy."
"Snake-bire, Heavens and earth, l
thought YOU said there was nothing In
HIS foot beyond the thorn"
Then the doctor went up 10 Jock and
laid II hand on each OF his shoulders.
and said. very slowly and distinctly:
You mark me, Jock Peters. we're In
face OF n bigger thing tonight than
"nakc-bltc. We're In face OF one of the
biggest ald ulttmi;cst mysterics-tha
influence OF the mind poi the body.
I've heard uf something like this case
befort. although I've never seen Il, nor
ever thought | should; and that in
| connection with Il c1olir and n cobra In
India. In tina; case, too. there was no
snake-hite. although there was n snake.
The CHolic saw the snake; Il dartcd from
beneath his feet. and at the m
likaly from the start he Eave) u thorn
pierced his ~fcet-Just rs II happened to
the Grcasrr. And that man, too. the
same as this man here, Swellcd up,
showed all the symptoms Of s~naEr-no!S-
nning and died. This nan We'll save.
You. lock. havc practically saved him.
by keeping him moving and cOuuternCt-
Ing the poison by the brandy. Look n
the man: Isn't Re snake-poisoncd?"
by MI that's blue, he looks It," Jock
admitted.
And nil the hurt he's gothic physI-
cal hurt-iS just the prick Of that
thorn. The rests all ~mcntal-all the
swelling. the surcharging Of the vessels,
mental. Now, tell me-. how do you
think that man would be but for his
| morbid mental state with all that bran
dy that You have given him."
Dead. suppose"
You're rtght-dcad: as dead as you or
7 would be II We set Ia drink the sam"
just now. But hc-hc's hardly drunk;
he's sober. And he's better u~ow-hcart
actin; better" lie bent and listened 10
its beating as he spoke. You've seen
4 strange thing tonight. gentlemen" he
added. rising again. and undressing lis
collectively: such 4 thing as neither
you nor ! are likely eve to see again.
And I'll tell yol another thing about II,
gentlemen: It's 4 thing that you won't
get n great deal OF CT"d"ncc for when
sou come To tell ii to the boys. There's
a fashion IN this world FOR mon to DO
licrc thcy. know the way things happen;
the thinf that happens In n way they
don't know they put aside as n thing
that didn't happen. So OF this" the
doctor added simply. 81 should only
! speak as among gentlemen. with hand
| on the pistol pocket at the hip"
hfler n while the awful distortion Of
Louic'S face began I" 20 down. You
can almost see It settling like u batter
pudding" as Jim Kelly said: and the
fearful purple tinEc died nut Of II. Ills
| heart was beating naturally again. and
the doctor said we might let him 10 to
sleep.
In the morning hc was difficult to
rouse. AZ he might he aftcr so heavy a
night. bu, the doctor said he would do
right enough II W" would give him II
rest for n day or two. And so he did,
though his nerve was so shaken that we
| Ind to send him back to the plain where
there were no rattlcsnnkcs. II appear
Cd later that Louie had cherished n NOR
bid dread Of snakes for n long while.
eve since hc had In hand the killing Of
one six feet long down In the republic OF
Mexico: though after u couple OF years
on the ranch he had almost forgotten
that there were such things. \ man
that ig rvo about snakes should
eve go barefoot In the hills.
1T only shows what ! told YOU lock
Peters commented. "%Strychninc Is the
thing for snake bite, because II Is auch
n nerve tonic. II Il mnn could make be-
lieNc he Ind not henn hltlnn be nnnl