Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-09-13
THE CHRISTENING
OF RATTLES.
ey Carlos Pilgrim.

Ok MA xAESs
BY Carlos Pilgrim.
l~N~A~N~N~A
You haven't got anything special
this morning Hen, have your asked
the ranch boss, as the Circle Oarlock
boys were struggling over toward the
h0rse-corral to saddle up.
The man addressed was Il long, lean,
bow-legged young fcllow-'.the very
type of a Rough Rider" rs II famous
correspondent said who saw him in
1858 with Roosevelt pressing up San
Juan hill. But this was in 81, and
s'Hen'' was Mt that moment whistling
q rollicking air.
Nope" he said, breaking the jig for
nm instant.
"Weli,' continued the foreman,
"Dutch Yorike was here yesterday,
and he says he saw n bunch of our
cows working into the Gap. Suppose
You take Blue to-day and go over and
head 'em off. There's no water on the
other side. to speak Of"
Hens jig turned comically into one
long: drawn, high note. 1t was mid
summer, and the day gave promise of
fierce heat. The Gap was good thir-
ty miles away, and therefore Hen
whistled his dlsapprObation. You
might whistle whatever and however
you pleased on the Circle Oarlock;
only, to preserve your friendly rela-
tions with the outfit, you must waste
no time In doing the thing You We're
told to do.
So the long cowboy had picked his
pony from the cor allied band and was
eff. The more miles he had behind
him by the iin,e the sun got overhead,
the better it would be for man and
beast The horse he was riding-the
one indicaltd by the foreman-was no
beauty; on the other hand, it Ind that
which, in Western horses. at all events.
is to be desired above physical beauty
- fair character 1t was a small blue
roam cayuse, as wiry and enduring as
: llorsefosh well can be.
Lope, lope. lope, lope. Blues nose
pointed straight for the Gap. which
opened lazily into the distant hills. The
burning, sun cast his rays more and
more directly on the back of Hens in
diTerently-clean cotton shirt, and made
The cowpuncler ,involuntarily witch
his shoulders beneath 1t, and shift
about In the saddle. His face and
neck; being regularly exposed TO many
weathers, We're of n fine mahogany,
and invulnerable TO sunbeams.
~ Blue had covered some fifteen miles
of the lonely. wide eXpanse of range,
4 when Hen stumbled upon the Incident
which branded him. literally as well as
figurately. They We're crossing wide,
barren, sandy bench, with here and
there a siclily grny-green sage-bush,
and the prickly-pear cactus scattered
abroad in profusion.
j. was a most inhospitable spot for
man and horse, but paradise for rat
tlesaakes.
Now there was a hard days work
before Hen. If the cattle had drifted
far, OF were refractory, he would have
to camp somewhere and give two days
to 1t. He was pushing his pony ruth
lessly. But in riding across that bench
his eye happened to light on the big
sest ihttlesnake he had ever seen-and
he had seen many. He was interested
Mt once. AS he afterward explained.
he never liked to pass a RATHER with
out some little salute; and this was a
special important-lookin' varmint-a
blessed dock. at least So he drew up
alongside the .dook," who took no
pains to evade him. but promptly
eoiled for fight. and after an apprecia-
Z. tive glancc at the fine string of rattles,
brought his heavy six-shooter to bear,
and fired
The bullet tore up much sand with.
cut seeming to annoy the lordly reptile
III the slightest. 1t was close, easy
shot, and Hen looked down in amaze.
mont at his missing. When he had
looked enough, he tried again. This
time the big revolver merely clicked
and Hens contemptuous berating of
himself might have softened almost
anything but n rattlesnake. That he
should have come out on a trip like
this, where he would in all probability
have to shoot for his supper, with one
cafifidse! Yet there We're the plain
iacts--an empty revolver, and no cart
!idge belt!
Hen lost his temper. The snake was
OPENLY defying him; and BESIDES he
had taken n fancy to those rattles. He
led Blue to one side and hung down his
bridle-reins. which signitied that the
roam pony was anchored there unit
further orders; and then he start
ed out to seek hand-ammunition.
Among the many things not readil,
to be found OH that bench We're stones
and Hens search was disappointing
for some time; but after much impa