DEADLY PREDICAMENTS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11833, 14 January 1933, Page 9

DEADLY PREDICAMENTS

If 'fish had been, biting that .day-ibis-article- might not have been' -written; but they took no interest in wormswhich 1 was. the best I could oftW-tbeni -r-flnd ' thereby, probably saved .. my li.fd. writes' Hugh Sharp '. in the .Mel-beurne-Argus: _ I had been’.sitting,, L do not-know .for ho.w long, drowsyand 'motionless, within loin, .of ’death.Ivlrad 'bceiiiwpndering .at the chirpingofya 'Spktary'cicada—-for that is what I took it; to be. It was late ..in summet, and .the.' cicadas liad ..chirped their ‘last ■ rveeks before. The chirping’caine .from my .right and clbffe by. T looked over my. shoulder-to see Jon which rush the belated insect was perched. And there beside me was coiled Viarge mocassin, a-highly, venomous’shhke, common in'Texas near water.. He bad loin.' of bis sootylength raised straight"‘up and bead and neck-were poised to strike. What I had taken to be the’ chirping of acicada- was'the hissing he made a,t he. inhaled; and exhaled' his breath. If- he should strike, I thought, it vv:as almost certain that he would bury Its‘fangs .in either, my neck or my face. No first-aid treatment would be possible- nor was. it- .likely that cutting at'random for punctures that I could hot see would do any good.. 1 was aware of a curious detached feeling, as if I were taking part in something'.that' did not concern me directly. Tn a subjective sort of.way I wa‘ s at o.n'ce.surprised and glad that 1 did hot feel the least, bit .frightened. For. a few moments I.remained motionless; ‘then, with the utmost care, not to make any abrupt movements. T began, to lean over in a direction away from the shake. When. I judged that my. face and neck at least were out of range I made a sudden spring, lying, almost on my side. I half expected the mocassin’ to follow me, but, to my great relief, be leaped into the .water. When the danger bad passed I felt suddenly extremely shaky ‘'- * \ CHASED 'EY DYNAMITE. 1 There are worse things than sit- I tint \' J y a mocassin poised to strike. 1 This Alarming experience wag suffered by. a friend. He lived on the Upper j Murray, and, like me,'it was-because j of-fish that he nearly met bis death. , Bat he did not propose to get bis fish ( in a legitimate way, for he intended ( to dynamite a billabong for them. Ar- )j riving at the billabong, he attached a { detemntor and- a fuse to a stick of dynamite, and, lighting • the fuse, he threw the plug in the water. But he reckoned without Barney, his retjAever.Barney instantly plunged into the water and'retrieved the dynamite.’He ; would have laid lit at bis master’s .feet : with the fuse fizzling, but he did not have a chance. According to an eyewitness, Br s master sprinted at extraordinary speed for. a - stunted gum 40 vards away. Tie arrived at this doubtful refuge with Barney still holding the dynamite between his teeth, right at his heels. Scrambling up. the .trees, in a frenzy of fear,, be sat panting in the fork, watting -for . the inevitable.' Poor. Barney, much puzzlcd-bv, these inexplicable antics, staved at the foot of the tree wagging his tail. A bang, a-violent flash, a blast of wind that nearly blew the fugitive off his perch-—and then silence! A Sj for poor Barney, a few fragments scattered far and wide were all. that was left- of him.. • •

A , BOMB FOB. PUMAS. These two adventures sound almost tame: along side that wlrch beiell Diego* a : Mexican cowboy whom I knew. Diego was -working ior aa American named Lawrence, who had a cattle ranch, on. the Mexican border of the Bio Grande. One day ho rode up to the homestead' to . report that •‘Mexican lions’ ’—pumas— were killing yearling cattle. Lawi ence had halts set,' but the pumas would not t;ouch.them. "Every day or two a yearling ,was killed, .but all efforts to track the killers were fruitless. - Two weeks later, when Diego was boundary, rtiding before daw.n, :he came across a mesh “kill” , and there, not - iar kn>ad of him, he saw two great, pumas slinking off through .the grey, shadows. They would go to their lair'to. sleep off the effects of the gorge. Be iollowed cautiously. They were making or a low hummock thickly covered with ckaparalscrub. There wa s a rougn trail which they had. made themslves in goinn- to and from their den. They ascended the trail, and when they had reached the top of the, hummock they disappeared, this, ’then, where they had .their den 1 Diego lost no time in reporting the discovery at the .homestead. . •

After discussing various plans Lawrence and his manager, Pratt, decided that'-tbe mcist effectual plan would.he to .bomb the pumas a 5 they .lay asleep in their den. They made a bomb, of a lib.cocoa tin,filled w;ith black powder, and-fired by a time iuse. Diego • vas to be the bomber, and Lawrence and Pratt armed with Winchesters were to wait -at;the foot of the trad lest--sko pumas-should he alarmed prema-turely-and come into the-open ® are iad done its work. The de-tails-having been settled the reo men set out for the hummock, which was about ten miles from the homestead., ? Tethering their: horses some distance away they approached the hum-

* * r : .—- r ' ! ' —~~ — • ; £ -i-, , A - WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE? !

; mock as quietly os possible. - Then ‘Diego crawled on hands and kneOg up ' The steep trail leading to the ■ den, ■‘which had a nearly* vertical opening. 'When, he arrived at the, top die. took 'up a position at the opening on the dide opposite the trail,’for 'he had; no intention of’beng in the .way should . the pumas take alarm." Ho lit'the fuse and, kneel'ing down, was peering into' the • mouth of the den when suddenly he disappeared with a loud'yell. More yells, and Spanish oaths followed, but • their sound was muffled and infixed' with the ■ sound wore growls and snarls. A few seconds later quo of the. pumas, the female, scrambled to the 'surface'and raced like* can arrow down the •trail. Pratt and Lawrence Tallowed, her to get into the open and t-heni .they fired. ’She turned two somersaults and lay still. ‘Hardly had' this happened when the ,head of tho male puma appeared. He seemed to have difficulty in climbing out of the den. When' he was'clear they •saw what was hampering his movement, It was Diego who, his face distorted with terror and his eyes starting out of his head, had'the puma gripped by the tail. Just, then there was a dull roar, and a column of dust and smoke was shot into the air. The bomb had exploded in the den. The puma gave two great leaps. The. first took Diego up with him, but the second jerked the animal clear of his encumbrance, and Diego; fell to earth head foremost. His friends thought that he had broken his neck, but ho was only stunned. The puma- escaped, for they were too flurried to fire.

When Diego recovered he explained that tho flat slab of rock on which he was ‘kneeling when preparing to drop his bomb tilted up and fell into the den, carrying him and the bomb with it. He fell heavily on the. top of the two animals. He was flung this way and Hint and had no clear idea of what happened. Then ho felt something round and hard and gripped it tight. The last thing he remembered was the smell of the burning'fuse. “Well,” said Lawrence, “I reckon it’s just ns well for you, Diego, that it was the second puma’s tail—.you gripped, for if it bad been the first one’s tail, you would have been chewed up pretty, considerably behind .while you were being hauled to the surface.”