Show fy v adventurers CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF 1 fanged death H HELLO ELLO distinguished EVERYBODY adventurer graham babcock of paterson N J takes the adae adventurers club rostrum tod today ay and graham wins ten bucks because he take another fellows advice if hed done what that fellow told him to hed have had no sto story ry to tell us today but graham paid no attention to that fellow and the result is one of the most thrilling bloodcurdling blood curdling adventure yarns ive seen in a coons age it was in august 1913 graham was just seventeen years old lived in suffern N Y and spent his spare time hunting I 1 in n the ramapo mountains in season and out at the time hunting huntin g was out of season so graham carried his rifle in a gun case an and d took along a fishing basket just in case he happened to meet up with a game warden game wardens can put you in the jug for hunting bunting in august but theres no law against fishing for minnies at that time of year graham started out up the tracks of the erie railroad and walked as far as the ramapo crossing from there he planned to cut into the mountains but the crossing tender an old friend of his and an old timer in that section tried to dissuade him theres a rattlesnake den just up the side of that gully he said and rattlers are mean at this time of year better go in up the track a ways graham unknowingly walks into nest of snakes but graham had seen rattlers before and he afraid of them whenever hed come on them they had always wriggled out of sight as fast as they could he forgot though that a nest of rattlers in the late summer season mi might actually be LOOKING for trouble graham climbed up the side of the hill and walked along a ridge until he came to a place where a big boulder jutted butted out over the edge of a small cliff there a rattler in sight and he began to think he must have passed the nest the crossing tender had spoken of he saw some berry bushes a few yards away and set his gun and fishing I 1 remembered everything I 1 had ever heard about rattlers basket down on the boulder while he climbed up to pick a few berries but graham never picked so much as a single berry the minute he reached for them things began to happen As he stooped down to part the leaves of the first bush a rattler shot out from beneath it and landed almost at his leet feet graham leaped back As he did the slurring skirting ruffle of another rattler sounded from a niche in the rock just over his head then all at once that sound was repeated from a dozen directions from the right from the left from behind him the sound swelled into a low ominous hum graham realized then that he was right in the middle ot of that nest of vipers ile he took a quick step forward and stopped dead in his tracks A big one lay right in my path he says coiled and ready to strike its whole body swelling and deflating with anger as if it were being blown up by a bellows its tail sounded its threatening war note and its head was flattened and drawn back for the kill I 1 tried to back up and right behind me near a rotted tree trunk another one reared its head and rattled and hissed talk about things flashing through your a I 1 remembered everything I 1 had ever heard about rattlers I 1 remembered my grandfather telling that this was the worst time of year to be bitten for in late august when the rattler is about to seek his winter quarters his venom is twice as poisonous as it is at other times and I 1 remembered hearing that the speed with which the venom takes effect depends on where you are bitten my uncle once told me of a woman bitten in the breast who lived just 17 minutes those thoughts went through grahams mind in just the smallest fraction of a second and they stirred him into action over his head was a tree limb he leaped for it caught it and swung out from between the snakes that had him cornered he landed in an open space grabbed up a stick and began railing flailing the bushes to right and left 1 I made for the boulder where I 1 had left my gun and fishing basket he says still beating frantically with my stick another snake struck at the stick and I 1 threw it away as hard as I 1 could and tore through the bushes like a madman suddenly he heard another low pitched ominous rum hum graham reached the boulder where he be had left his gun out of breath and shaking like a leaf he had hurt his knee in his mad scramble through the brush and now believing himself out of danger he sat down to look it over and then suddenly he heard another low pitched ominous buzz says he 1 I looked back over my shoulder just in time to see another big rattler leap at me how I 1 ever did it ill never know but from a sitting position without getting to my feet I 1 actually jumped three feet to one side snake missed me by a foot it knocked over the basket and landed coiled right on my gun case I 1 ran to the left edge of the boulder and broke a limb from a green sapling as if it were a pipestem pipe stem I 1 saw the infuriated snake make ready for another strike and I 1 knew it miss this time behind me was the cliff in front of me was the snake and I 1 get off the boulder without getting in range of its strike then I 1 saw two other rattlers edging up to join in the attack and although it was a terrible jump I 1 preferred the cliff to death by snakebite snake bite I 1 hesitated only an instant hoped for the best and leaped into space the top of a cedar tree broke grahams fall fail he landed in a bed of pine needles below it and he says he fairly bounced as he landed luck was with me he says and the only injuries I 1 suffered were the terrible scratches on my body arms and face I 1 went home leaving my gun and basket right where they were and I 1 go back for them until after cold weather set in and the snakes were all holed up in their winter quarters copyright service |