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Show i. V V 4 ADVENTURERS' CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI "The Creek Bed Horror" By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter HELLO EVERYBODY: You know, boys and girls, I've often said you can get into more adventures in your own back yard than you can in the whole of darkest Africa. And here comes Houston Norris of Yonkers, N. Y., with a story that backs up my theory. Houston's back yard was a pretty big one, though. It was a farm in Sussex county, Virginia, where he lived when he was a kid. This happened back in 1920, when Houston was just thirteen years old. On a hot August day, he set out to change the cows from one grazing ground to another where they would be In the sha,de for the afternoon. He had a shotgun as a lot of kids do in the country and he took that off the rack. He carried that gun most everywhere he went, on the chance he'd get a shot at a crow, or a chicken hawk. There was a state bounty on those birds and that just about kept him in ammunition. And Incidentally, it's a doggone good thing he did take that gun along with him. For, although he didn't know it, he was heading straight for an adventure, and that shootin' iron was destined des-tined to come in mighty handy. Caught in the Fox Trap. Ahead of him lay a brook, the bed of which was dry during the summer months. That creek bed was always full of snakes that hid In the brush which grew along the bottom, so Houston started to cross on a log put there to afford a passage in wet weather. He noticed, as he stepped on the log, that it was covered over with heaps of tree moss, but he well he thought maybe the kids of the neighboring farmer had been playing and left It there. But that was the big mistake of his life. Houston stepped on the log and something snapped. He felt a sharp pairi in his leg, and knew how foolish he had been. That moss hadn't been put there by the neighboring farmer's kids. It had been put there by the farmer himself to conceal a fox trap and Houston had stepped right into it. The chain on that trap was only six inches long, and Houston's step was cut short. He lost his balance fell forward. His gun fell to the , . r - - , irvpr i He Had Stepped Right Into the Trap. ground and then, as he landed, he heard another click felt another stab of pain this time in his left hand. There had been two fox traps on that log, and he had fallen into both of them. The pain in his hand and leg made him wince, and he gritted his teeth. He was caught fast unable to get himself out. But getting out of those traps didn't worry Houston so much. He was only a short distance dis-tance from home. A few shouts would bring someone to his assistance. Then Came the Rattler. He drew a deep breath was all ready to let out a yell for help when something stopped him. To his ears came a peculiar buzzing sound and a familiar rustling of leaves directly under the log on which lie lay. His eyes dropped to the spot, and the hair began rising on the top of his head. A HUGE RATTLESNAKE RATTLE-SNAKE was crawling out from beneath the log! "I was frightened then for the first time," he says. "And for the I first time in all my life I felt completely helpless. My gun was four feet away from the log, and I didn't dare call for help lest I anger the i snake and cause him to strike at me. "I hoped-as I never hoped before-that that snake would crawl away and leave me alone. But that hope vanished when it brought its huge body into a coil and settled down by the log to watch me. "My trapped hand and foot began to pain me terribly My back was cramped and began to ache, but I had to keep it tense for fear that I would roll off the log and fall on top of the snake. I wondered what would happen when I got too tired to hold that position any longer Then suddenly, something happened that brought the situation to a quick climax." M Got the Gun Just in Time. What happened was this. Three shotgun shells had worked themselves them-selves loose from their holder at Houston's belt. They rolled from the log and lit, almost simultaneously on the back and head of the rattler In an instant the snake threw its head up to the level of the log Its beady eyes glittered as it looked Houston over rarofiiv S' The reptile seemed to sense that it had him at its mercy-that here was no need for haste. Slowly it drew back Its head to strike. t . 5": SayS Houston- "I had t0 do something. In desperation I started to reach for my gun. I rolled my free fool over toe ground making a desperate and painful effort to make my step as wide Tnd as far from the og and the snake as possible. Then I dropped my right knee and struggled with my right hand to get at the gun "My fingers could barely touch the gun's muzzle, but by stretchinu , the chants of the traps that held me. I managed to get a grip on t and pull it my way Desperately, I drew it alongside my body with is muzzle MuSXSer C6nter f l0e' UnU1 my trembl'n nngersTould maden','!!!" 'oruward-anSed the movements I had dTeack'tn birairgZel,-- " - And after that, it was just a matter of a few good lustv velk nrf help came and Houston was out of his traps. y ' 8 d Copyright. WNU Service. |