Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-21
A FIGHT BETWEEN SNAKES.
The King Got In a Solar Plexus Blow
ON the Rather.

The King Got In n Solar Plexus Blow
on the Rather.
From the Philadelphia Times.
The distant mur1nur of the waterfall,
| the hum Of the bees among the flowers.
| made me feel lazy. and, laying aside my
| fishing rod, 1 stretched myself on the soft
spring grass under a weeping willow, and
! watched the blue cloud-specked sky. I
had almost fallen asleep. when I was
aroused by a voice inquiring, "Kotched
emmy fish, mister?" Looking up, saw a
typical mountaineer, and assured him 1
had not. II say, mister, this here is a
powerful bad kentry for snakes. One bit
Jim Sloan's bay mare last night, an week
afore last another bit Sally NMillfgan. Some
on 'em air powerful pizen, specially the
rattlers and coppers, and that minds me-
Ell wuz yourself I'd move little further
from that ere copper. He amt 'Zactly
perty to look at, an eff We was ter rile i'm
with yer boot he mout get vicious"
Long before that speech had ended had
turned a somersault backward, which
caused the mountaineer a great deal of
genuine pleasure to behold. l was about to
exterminate the big, sluggish reptile with
stick that l had seized, when my COM
panion asked me to wait few moments,
as a king might come along. Not exactly
understanding whether he expected a per-
son of that name, and failing to see what
that event had to do with my laudable de-
sire to smash the big. ugly thing that had
presumed to take my leg for pillow,
asked him for an explanation. Air it pos
slble yer town folks dunno what king
air! Why, a king air the boss snake NV
the woods. He don't do no harm to nuth-
In, 'ceptin' snakes, an he doan' poster
them as haint pizen. But he do love a
copper an RATHER. which is the wurst
snakes Of these diggins, an he's death on
EN-.
"Tother day 1 was gwine long old road,
an all of a sudden l heerd a singin' as
tho camp meetin' had just tuck in.
khowed 1t were RATHER, and, lookin
ful big un he wuz. He wuz pulled up like
corkscrew, and his rattles wuz a-makin
the air jingle. But at first l couldn't
scoVer the cause. and / knowed a RATHER
never got ready for business fur nothin.
PRESENTLY l seed the grass a-swayin' and
a-bendin, and then the RATHER he gets
nervous and skeered, an, unquilin' hisself
ne made break TO run. But it wuz too
late, for on came the king like hurricane
and, putin hisself just ahead the RATHER
showed him his jig wuz up. Seem he could
not scape, the RATHER. pulled ag'in and
showed fight. The king he commenced to
| run around his inimy in a wide circle, the
Rather watchin', lickin' out his tongue and
maxim his rattles sing like banner Closer
and closer the king drawed his circle as he
dashed around, until he Worn't mCre'n three
feet from the inimy
Then the RATHER, thinkin' he saw the
last snow to save his bacon, made power
Iul Splteful lunge at the king, an thar is
whar he slipped up. for the king he lodged,
and, quicker'n gunpowder, wuz onto the
RATHER. Thar warent nothin' but a ball Of
snakes in sight for few minutes, as they
fought and tussled over the grass, but arter
little could see the red and black striped
King wound around the big RATHER Just like
grapevine on tree. Then 1 seed the
KING hold i'm by the back Nv the neck an
l could hear him crushin' the RATHER as he
tightened on him. 1t wor all over in half a
hour, an the king. unwindin hisself from
his victim, got behind him and waited for
ten minutes. Then he crept up and put his
nose on the rattler's to see if he wuz
breathin. You see, other snakes know the
KING, an sometimes 'possum on him by
pretendin' to be dead. But the rattler was
shore 'nuf gone, and when the king wor
satisfied NV this he crawled in a old stump
hole and presently came out with a mouse's
tan stickin' out of his mouf. But he soon
swallowed the mouse, an wipn' his nose
on the grass, went off sarchin' for more
trouble. king alters eats a rat or a toad
after fight to make him strong fur the
next un.
An now, mister, could tell you a DOW
erfui lot more'n that, for 1 knows snakes. I
DO, but I'll help you kill the copper, which
mout not meet king until he bites some
un Ell we didn't, an then 1 must hurry on
after my oxen. what 1 war huntin' when I
seen that varmint a-tryin' to go to sleep
with yourself"