Show THE GODS OF THE HEATHEN X am by F M SPITZ L 0 by short story pub co cc an investigator of old tribal customs intrudes at an indian snake anake worship and to save himself Is in forced to kill the aa sacred c red snake what follows makes a dramatic tragedy of the southwest aes 7 ES 11 said chama pete dis als yes as he pointed out the half burled khiva of taos pueblo where says saya local tradition the sacred rattlesnake dwells some people believe in these injun snakes an spells an such ilke an dome some dont 1 il I wits was out a bunch 0 scientific t fic bugs t plow up th ruins at arroyo seco full 0 arrowheads an smashed pottery a an n similar trash that runs about twenty three cents t th ton you can git it cheaper an realer lookin in connecticut but th smithsonian with a herd 0 sharps t keep busy digs dl s it up out pere here my party was under a dutchman name 0 weinzirl ii a good man that knew so BO much liowns he ana t learn lc arn more then there was plant till tl sharp to tomahawks hawks an pottery an all so on an another gink to fo inscriptions the fourth man was a yankee little bald chap with a snub nose an dinky little brown mustache baldwin was tits his name an ills his line was what they called th tb ethnological t mess with th five an get them down in ills little book lie he knew so much lie he learn any more 1 11 I took em cm over to arroyo seco W weinzirl poked around with a hoe plant rubb ered at chipped rocks through fin an eyeglass an I 1 fried bacon an boiled beans how ye we were lined up tip when I 1 sighted about forty taos bucks through th sagebrush on foot 1 I out what this outfit was doln left their overalls an flannel shirts at home tin an togged bogged themselves out in th old tribal buckskin so I 1 was all to lettin them go by but there wits was no holdan baldwin it looked like a chance t git in a little 0 his hia highbrow highbrown high brow on so methin out 0 th ordinary an off lie went to all I 1 could say eay with a camera an a little book so I 1 trailed trall eil along 1 I like th way they acted trum frum th start they just stared at us contemptuous like an glared at th camra but I 1 saw one man I 1 knew tom platero call ill bilm I 1 fished him oil offo fo th tb rio grande tined once so I 1 went t him tom I 1 said in ili mexican that hombre wants t take yore picture with his little box yore a smart man muy not like th old women at th pueblo yo know its no devil or any anything thin like that mph mob be hell give yo a dollar when he git girs through tom looked at we me very solemn the rattlesnake to la dead lie he says 1 T I stared a h 1 of a note 01 old d man I 1 says Is this th funeral procession we come to get another lie ile explains now we got gat him we go buck back better you go way pete an take that d n fool along then I 1 saw they did have a snake a old diamond diamondback back about eight feet long he was alyin colled under a cactus an n they seemed t be baitin to him I 1 make up his mind t move just then I 1 heard the camera snap th injure injune began t growl a an n shoot remarks at each other out 0 th corners 0 their in mouths baldwin was all up in the air bryin to screw th film around to fo another shot an so excited he keep hold 0 6 th handle come way man I 1 says boll have them all on in a minute I 1 if yol yo got one picture its more than yo had a right t expect 1 I 1 must snap th snake lie squealed what a wonderful opportunity I 1 mellendorf says snake worship Is extinct I 1 must take him film from close up his effective range looks to be bout thirty feet I 1 begged him un hl h taos tribe Is gitten restless come out ol 01 0 iti but heget he get his machine to six feet an walked up t th snake it was when he leaned over t look in th finder that old sidewinder struck I 1 saw a buck step on his tall baldwin jumped in time but ile he dropped th picture box an landed in a i cactus th snake had bad colled coiled again liy by th time he got up full 0 brickers pr ickers tiala scared an road mad as a bear in a box trap he yanked out a dinky little 38 squirt gun an shot that rattler just where he went around his elf about seven times that was all I 1 waited for I 1 it know now I 1 beat it to camp like it II coyote we had two guns a winchester an a sixteen gauge pump that I 1 carried some bucks bell to agave th rifle theres like a shotgun shot gun to fol close work an tried t ram the situation into him with words ol 01 0 one syllable he stared at the gun dreamy like th tb montenegrin army use a resembling this he be murmurs but th trajectory Is not sufficiently flat dont worry about th negro arm army y or th flat trajectory I 1 told him with n boft oft nosed bullet shell flatten anything ashes pointed at when yo pull till th trigger come alo alone nirl 1 well air when we got back t th I 1 wu was bawd scared blumb right fright ened ive ITC dealt with red shins years but this outfit knocked me lie cold all id hoped to co was nus t rl cave ave till til pieces an there was baldwin just us its id left him lili raised a hand th bucks buck s were ere round tile dead snake lils his tall lull was still wig glin in int flat uninterested sort 0 tones they alu i never neer look at t man t when hen really got cot t say but no I 1 savvy it at alt toni tom I 1 says to boin platero Plat cro goin t happen p en here toni n never ever stirred it u hair never never batted an eyelash ee lash I 1 might hal ha been a cottontail potton tall rabbit to nil all till th notice tie lie took I 1 tried t get my men away but th bucks made a ring round us an one old boy said spera set se 1 which Is aiex to fo wed like yore company a little longer scein scean thero there was forty ol 01 0 them thein we stayed then an old old buck in white alte deerskin came close t baldwin an all began V t talk after a bit I 1 saw lie was sayin it lind kind 0 a prayer just as he finished he raised ills his two iirma arms an stretched them out in Bald baldvins baldwins wins face an th whole tribe let out a bis big groan then they began t drift away aay as if hild had happened only one two hundred took a forty horsepower kick out 0 th can camera ietti 1 I was feelen mighty glad t git gil oil IE with a benediction when toni tom platero come round quite friendly tin im borry pete lie he says well im not I 1 told him what was grandpa bout cruelty t animals tom opened his eaps HP allf laid on in that man the curse of nf III ulm ni who luns without F feet beet the rattlesnake W 0 till th mesas says tom oh 1 says 1 I an that you will see tom was real nice bout it im sorry lie he says again but th rattlesnake died last tie ile wits was sacred rattlesnake lie pointed it what wits was left 0 th dla dia mond back on oil tho th ground iles hes not good to much bowl now 1 I 1 said too bad it Is finished says saya tom platero an went after his tribe baldwin had picked up tip his smashed camera an was sw earin over it but lie thought debbe thi film was still good an all he went into th tent tsee t me if lie he bring out th picture ol 01 0 th after a minute he came out again an went t weinzirl ilo told him he had a chill ills his hands shook so hed spilled th developer lie said weinzirl rammed a glass tube in his mouth yo have one an five eighths degree 0 fever he said in a minute yo will take th powder which I 1 pre paie afterwards we sat round th tire fire t smoke an I 1 gave em cm a few yarns 0 th early days when a man could go without clothes but not without a jest t teach lein em how loco it Is t fool with very good ya yarns MR they was too but baldwin listen very attentive finally he said hed go t bed 1 I was a long ways frum abeln satisfied with th way those taos bucks had acted so I 1 sat up most 0 th night V t make sure they come back an take their pet rattler out but ol 01 0 our hides th tb moon rose about ore ome it lighted up th inside 0 th tent an I 1 could see aee baldwin alyin with one arm out 0 th blankets ills his fist was clinched hard the man sleep in at all he was jest holdin himself in with all his might next mornin he looked sick feln zirl shook tits his head after hed give him th tube t chew th temperature had risen one an one eighth degrees he isaid better that you lie down hut but baldwin was set on out 1 I was th dishes when he began to shoot pulled his little 88 38 an emptied it into tn scenery th point I 1 asks him 1 I dont oba object act t a little celebration or a go gunfight gun n fight hut but I 1 like t know which Is wh which ch he hear me dont yo see it lie he says very anxious see what that snake P I 1 he began t load up agin all round 1 I looked round careful to fo reptiles but there anything in th neigh boyhood as big as a horn lizard so I 1 got weinzirl give me that revolver he says I 1 t baldwin he Is comin closer I 1 he yells weinzirl squinted round most careful there Is he said 1 11 11 I tell yo its ital a snake P 1 says baldwin an takes another crack at th sagebrush sage brush dont argue with me when you have two an three quarters degrees ol 01 0 fever says weinzirl yo must go t bed an we got him t lie ile down by pro promising t keep th snaked snake off ile he got worse fast then in an hour we had t sit on him t hold him down about noon he heaved us both off nn an sat gat up straight with th eyes out 0 his head good godl god I 1 he gasps an crumpled up we burled buried him th next day ile he was all swelled up an turned blue his body was stiff as a dry tilde hide chame pete spat philosophically into the annd that what did he die of well I 1 cant say what killed him but any three ee year cearold arold old mexican knows them things to sure signs 0 rattlesnake bite |