330 SPORT INDEED 



cious, his tongue out and swelled to such a size that 

 his mouth could not be shut. He was bitten on his 

 hands, his arms, his face and his legs, and some 

 twenty feet away from him lay a great rattlesnake 

 with its back broken in three places and its fangs in- 

 serted in its own body, forming a loop. 



It is supposed that the boy, after breaking the 

 rattler's back, caught the reptile in his hands with the 

 intention of crushing out its life ; that it bit him over 

 and over again wherever it pleased, and finally 

 fastened its fangs in its own body. Then the sup- 

 position is that the boy grew weak from his wounds, 

 dropped his hold of the rattler and fell back in a 

 swoon. 



A brother of Walter's, who was also a lad, found 

 him where he lay and carried him on his back for 

 over a mile and a quarter. Then the brother's 

 strength gave out and he fell by the wayside. The 

 father ran toward the two boys and at once com- 

 menced to doctor the wounded one. Repeated doses 

 of whiskey and milk revived the boy for a while, and 

 during the whole of his conciousness, and with fierce 

 look and gesture, he would shout, " Dam'd snake ! 

 dam'd snake ! " But convulsions soon set in and he 

 died. His body became spotted like the snake's, with 

 streaks on his chest and sides and spots upon his 

 cheeks and brow. 



A wagon was sent post-haste to Stroudsburg for a 



