The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-16
AT DEAD MANS SPRING.
Tine Mathematics Dislike of Crude obi an"
How IL Worked once.

lelim seeking On our way, at a WHO ah"
rocky stretch of the road, We came 10
rvulet that flowed across it, and the native
pulled up his horse and stopped.
Want to get out said he, and take a
drink out o. Dead Mans spring.
"The question was startling, and didn
see any spring, but was thirsty. and SAID
/ would be glad TO have the drink IL he
would produce the Spring
Go to the upper side o. the road, yonder,
where you see this little run come out o
that bunch q bushes said he, push the
bushes open, and you'll find as proper a
spring as you ever sot your eyes on to,
or put your mug in
Il followed directions, and true enough,
among the rocks and bordered by rank
growth Of ferns, was deep spring, at least
two feet in diameter, and of water the cool
est softest and sweetest had ever tasted
| quenched my thirst and got back into
the wagon
Now, said the native, see that hum
mock on t'other side o the road, 'longsde
o that big rock"
Il said did, for the hummock was plain
enough to be seen
Well, said the driver, that's the dead
man that gives the spring its name. Coed
APP, Joe"
I'VE drove along some distance, and the
native made no further reference to the
dead man or the spring In fact, he seemed
10 have forgotten all about them. but l
was little curious. and by and by said:
And how did it happen?'
The driver looked at me for all the world
as If he hadn't he slightest idea Of what l
meant pointed my thumb back over my
shoulder, and was about to explain, when
he exclaimed
'Oh-h-h' Him.
Yes. said /. And the spring
Well said the native, the spring was
always there, but he happened jest because
crude grease is the best thing in the world
for to make hair grow on bald heads, and
rattlesnakes won't touch anything that's
got it on
Il looked at the native little uneasily
but waited.
Dan Mitchell, / s'pose, was the luckiest
man that ever struck OIL he said, after
awhile, not cause he struck oil so much
as it was cause he used such a big lot
of it on his bald head TO make the hair
grow
Dan had a couple o good wells down
yonder long the creek, but he was pros
pectin for more. He had a bald spot
on top of his head about the size OF pan
cake. and it worried Dan tremendous
cause he was young Teller yit, and had
hopes.
Somehow or other Dan hadn't heard
vii that crude creased start hair to grow
in on TO bald heads as sure as mustard
plaster d start blister and that rattle
snakes, which was plentier than flies
round lasses jug, drawed the line at il +,
and let anything alone that had it on.
While you was putin down a well I.
you had to kick rattlesnakes out o your
way, or carry club with you all the time,
but the minute you struck oil and she began
to squirt, them rattlers d begin to cut sticks
away from there so fast that you wouldn't
be able to find one within mile o. your camp
Don't blame EN- much, for crude grease
don't smell anyways nigh like pineapple.
And that's the reason, l s'pose, that
folks hain't took to the crude grease cure
for bald heads more than they have. They'd
have to 60 into quarantine, | S pose, while
they was usin' it, anywheres outside o the
oil camps.
well, anyhow, Dan Mitchell had that
bald spot and il was maxim his future dark
when one day / told him about the crude
grease cure and he pitched into usin' il
for certain,
ON one Of his prospecting trips Dan
come along this road. II wasn't a road
then that you would run wagons onto. and
as some one had stole Dams horse he was
walkin 1t was a hot day in summer an
lnn had M TNT1l
smearin' of crude tn hurry up the hair ,
cause he want ed it.
Tother side o that spring, maybe a
couple hundred yards, he overlook a pack
pedler who was trudging along, and Dan
tried to walk along with him for company
but the peiler travelled too slow for Dan,
and he pulled out and left him behind
When Dan come to the little run across
the road he thought il must come from a
spring, and bein' morta! thirsty he looked
for il. The grease was runnin' down his
face, and all through his hair, and he said
the heat had made ii smell leetel worse
than common, If that could be.
Dan found the spring and took a good
drink and swashed his face in it awhile.
Then he started on. He hadn't gone MOI e
than twenty PAGES when he heard a most
appallin' yell behind him. He looked
back and seen the pedler he had passed
layin' in the road and within tremendous,
Dan ran back rs fast as he could to see
what was the matter. The pedler was
cutchin' his neck with one hand His
eyes was starin', and his face was purple.
He recognized Dan and managed to say;
IA RATHER bit me in the neck Yonder
he lays"
Dan looked where the pedler was
pointin', and there, sure enough, lay a
big RATHER AT the edge O. the bushes that
hid the spring. coied up, and glarin' like
fury. Before Dan could grab club and
kill the snake, the pedler threw himself
forward and grabbed the ratter. The
snake sunk his fangs into the man ag in.
this time at the wrist The pedler tore the
snake in two and throwed the parts on the
ground and stamped 'em into the earth.
ale was able to tell Dan before he
keeled over, with his head and neck sweled
most TO bursting. that he had kneeled at
the spring to get drink, when the RATHER,
that laid in the ferns on t'other side O the
spring, had struck him, sinkin' its fangs
SO deep In his neck that when he sprung
backward TO the road and fell there he
drug the snake with him. The poor Teller
died in short time. Dan put his body
in the bushes and went on to find some
body to tell the news to.
over yonder on the hill was the well that
was helpn' put down at that time, an
Dan come over there with his news.
Lucky for me that RATHER wasn't
there when | stuck my head over that
spring, wasn't it?" says Dan.
"'"The snake was there. all right says
l. you was doctorin that bald head o
yourn There's where the luck comes in.
If il hadn't been for the smell o that bald
head cure" says, "the pedler would be
here now askn' us to go back and help
In.NN L-s..