Show T avd A B f V 9 I 1 B aft adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 44 rattlesnake kate by FLOYD famous headline deadline hunter H HELLO ELLO EVERYBODY got this one right hot off the waffle iron members of the adventurers club its about a brave hard fighting quick thinking woman lots of people think women arent brave but when it comes down to a case of life or death just watch em cm and then throw in the life of a baby to fight for and well find that old rudyard kipling was right about the female of tho the species why this ills adventure la Is iso BO absolutely out of the he ordinary that I 1 hardly believed it myself when mrs kate kao Slaught erback fort lupton colo told it to me this Is what happened in 1025 1023 on the twenty eighth day of october tober you know what kind of a day that would be out in colorado animals moving around everywhere storing up food or malting making tor for winter quarters little snap in the nir migratory wild fowl coming down from the north bound for the warm waters of tho the tropics well early that morning hunters had been banging away before daylight at the mallards and canvasbacks canvas backa backs that were stopping over for tho the night in a lake away out in one corner of tho the Slaught erback ranch kate Slaught erback know knew from experience that the hunters bother to follow the crippled birds so she eho decided to ride put and pick oft off a few unfortunate stragglers for supper there was a hugo snake coi coiled fled sho she saddled up the old pinto got down her 22 remington lifted three acar ol oll E rnest ernest into tho the saddle and swung up behind him off they went across tho the fields to the fence that separated a pasture from the boggy lake kate hopped off the pony to open the gate and right there 40 3 1 of LOWIN 11 C IRV 1 IT 1 I aa 1 44 P fi 4 4 1 11 11 h ay y 0 r V g fir E dij IM ij ii e I 1 mh 0 N iii 4 7 J I 1 kate r ought fought nati rattlers lers for two solid hours at the gate post coiled up and ready to fight anything that came along was wag a huge rattlesnake bother that western woman much astle sh e stopped stepped back to the pony took the rifle out of the saddle and blew the head fiend right off that cocky reptile but lie he had his gang with him no sooner had that rifle cracked no sooner had the sn snake ake sounded his dying rattle tian than another angry whar r r sounded from tho the tall dry grass another warning sounded from the left still baill another from a different direction three glistening thick bellied rattlers slithered into the open and toward kate the remington cracked three times in quick succession and three sets seta of rattles beat out a death tattoo on the ground mrs ii reloaded her rifle she looked up quickly in the direction of a strange sound a sound like the rustle rustic pt of the wind among ripe corn first theil thea ten then twenty or thirty rattlesnakes were undulating into the open IN BATTLE FORMATION their pointed heads were erect their fangs darting they were ready to avenge their companions in tho the interrupted migration still tho the nerve of the ranch woman hold held steady she realized she could not kill twenty or thirty savage snakes with her little rifle what she wanted was a stout club there was only one in sight kate chuckled ns as she saw that the club was stuck into the ground and bore a sign no hunting keep out fought dozens with a club she plucked that stake out of the ground smashed oft off the sign and turned to tackle the serpent army her eyes met a horrible sight there were no longer twenty or thirty attackers they were sliding noiselessly in from all directions ions lons right and left behind and before she looked into venomous eyes that blazed green like an endless row of traffic lights site she was surrounded surround cd the first rattier to reach her coiled to strike kate kata swung the club barely three feet long and the dying tall flicked her hand on came the others some circling some darting in little ernest was crying in the saddle brownle brownie the pony wat war trembling it if he should rear the baby would be thrown among the snakes kate was afraid then afraid for or herself and her little boy she redoubled her blows A rattler sprang clear of the ground kate caught it with her club as a baseball batter would swing on a home run another rattler sprang it missed tier her hand by a half inch she could feel its breath as the jaws snapped A sound behind her colled coiled and poised for a thrust at her leg was another foe she truck backward the snake uncoiled its head crus crushed bcd the slithery chain of reptiles seemed endless they darted and struck train from all sides the club thudded hundreds of times dying snakes writhed in piles kate hardly moving from her tracks fought on fought for t two wo sol solid id hours before she climbed painfully nerve wracked wrack ed back into tho the saddle her nickname well earned brownie darted tor for the ranch hous mrs Slaught erback tumbled from the saddle clasping little ernest her hands were raw flesh and blisters her eyes bloodshot and her face swollen her amazing adventure spread like wildfire lre through the colorado country down from the cities raced newspaper reporters and photos lop raphers then the boys lined her up tip beside her grisly foes cameras told the true story of her kill ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY rattlesnakes I 1 said to her 1 I hear your friends have a nickname for you now rattlesnake kate yes she said and im proud of it 0 service |