登陆注册
5377300000051

第51章

"Among other weaknesses this Todd imports from the States is, he's afraid of snakes.Rattlesnakes is his abhorrence, an' if each is a disembodied sperit he can't want 'em further off.He's allers alarmed that mebby, somehow, a rattlesnake will come pokin' in onder his blankets nights, an' camp with him while he's asleep.An' this yere wretched Jaybird fosters them delusions.

"'About them serpents,' I overhears Jaybird say to him one evenin'

while we-alls is settin' 'round;--all but Moore an' Tutt, who's ridin' herd; ''bout them serpents; a gent can't be too partic'lar.

It looks like they has but one hope, which it's to crawl into a gent's blankets an' sleep some with him.Which, if he moves or turns over, they simply emits a buzz an' grabs him I knows of forty folks who's bit that a-way by snakes, an' nary a one lives to explain the game.'

"'Be rattlesnakes thick in Arizona?' I hears Todd say to this Jaybird.

"'Be they thick?' answers Jaybird.'Well, I shore wishes I had whiskey for all the rattlesnakes thar is yereabouts.I don't want to go overstatin' the census to a gent who is out playin' for information, an' who's learnin' fast, but I s'pose now thar ain't none less than a billion snakes in southeast Arizona alone.If Icould saw off the little passel of cattle I has on this range, you can gamble I'd pull my freight to-morrow.It's all right for sech old Cimmarons as Enright, an' sech parties as that sawbones Peets, to go bluffin' about thar' bein' no rattlesnakes to speak of, an'

that they couldn't p'ison you to death no how; but you bet I ain't seen forty of my nearest friends cash in of snake-bites, an' not learn nothin'.An' almost every time it's a rattlesnake as comes slidin' into bed with 'em while they's locked in dreams, an' who gets hot an' goes to chewin' of 'em, because they wants to turn out before the snake does.Rattlesnakes that a-way wants to sleep till it's fourth-drink time an' the sun's 'way up yonder.An' when a gent goes to rollin' out of his blankets say at sun-up, it makes 'em monstrous angry to be disturbed; an' the first he knows of where they be an' how they looks on early risin', their teeth's in him up to the gyard, an' before night thar's one less gent to cook for, an'

an extra saddle rides along in the grub-wagon with the blankets when they next moves camp.'

"Of course all this is a heap impressive to Todd; an' while Enright an' Peets both tells him Jaybird's havin' fun with him, you can see he's mortal afraid every night when he spreads his blankets, an' he makes a cirele about where he sleeps at with a horse-ha'r lariat he's got from a Mexican, an' who tells him it'll tickle the snakes'

necks when they goes to crawl across it, an' make 'em keep away.

"The way this yere Jaybird manages to stampede the bunch that time is this a-way.Jaybird comes ridin' in from the cattle about three hours before sun-up, to turn out Tutt, who is due to take his place on herd.Jaybird's got a rawhide rope that he's drugged about in the grass, which makes it damp an' cold.As Jaybird rides up to camp he sees this Todd rolled in his blankets, snorin' to beat four of a kind.

"Nacherally Jaybird's out to be joyous in a second.He rides up close to this he'pless shorthorn as he lays asleep, an' tosses a loop of his wet rawhide across his countenance where it's turned up in the moonlight.As it settles down cold an' startlin' on Todd's skin, Jaybird yells:

"Snake, Todd! Thar's a rattlesnake on you bigger'n a dog.'

"Jaybird says later as how this Todd behaves tremendous.He b'iles up into the atmosphere with a howl like a wolf; an', grabbin' a blanket in each hand, he starts out over the plains in a state of frenzy.Which the worst is he charges headlong toward the herd; an'

what with them shrieks he volunteers, an' the blankets flappin' an'

wavin', thar ain't a cow in the bunch who stays in her right mind a moment.Which she springs to her feet, an takin' her offspring along, goes surgin' off into the hills for good.You couldn't head or stop 'em then.It's the completest case of stampede I ever turns out to behold.

"No; this yere Todd never gathers the rights of the eepisode.He's that peevish an' voylent by nacher no one tells him it's Jaybird;an' onless, in the light of knowin' more, he has since figgered out the trooth, he allows to this day a rattlesnake as big as a roll of blankets tries to recline on his face that time.

"To keep peace in camp an' not let him go to pawin' 'round for real trouble with the festive Jaybird, Enright stands in to cap the game himse'f; an' puts it up in confab with this Todd the next day as how he sees the rattlesnake, an' that it's mighty near bein' a whopper.

"'It's shore,' says Enright, when he an' Todd is conversin' tharon, 'the most giant serpent I ever sees without the aid of licker.An'

when he goes streakin' off into the gloom, bein' amazed an' rattled by your cries, he leaves, so far as I'm concerned, a trail of relief behind.You-all can gamble, I wasn't interruptin' of no sech snake, nor makin' of no pretexts for his detainment.

"'What for was his rattles like?' says Todd; an' he gets pale at the mere sound of Enright's talk.

"'As to them rattles,' says Enright, like he's mighty thoughtful tryin' to recall 'em to mind, 'as to this reptile's rattles, it's that dark that while I sees 'em I couldn't but jest.So far as Inotes anythin' they looks like a belt full of car-tridges, sorter corrugated an' noomerous.

"Now this yere which I relates, while no doubt burnin' experiences to Todd, is after all harmless enough.An' to people not careful about the basis of their glee it might do some to laugh at.But it all closes up on a play with nothin' gay nor merry in it; leastwise not for Jaybird Bob.

同类推荐
  • 修真十书黄庭外景玉经注卷

    修真十书黄庭外景玉经注卷

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大乘入道次第

    大乘入道次第

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Vendetta

    Vendetta

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 乐府杂录

    乐府杂录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 敬简堂学治杂录

    敬简堂学治杂录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 佛说金色王经

    佛说金色王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 豪门挚宠调香妻

    豪门挚宠调香妻

    "六年后,她回归故土,在亲人们的哀求以及家族企业受困的双重压力下,她答应了与他人订婚,成为别人的新娘。然而就在这时,他回来了。他说,“宋佳蕊的良人是我,我才是宋佳蕊的名副其实的未婚夫,一个月后我们也将完婚!”他以全新的外貌及尊贵的身份再次闯入了她的生活,摇身一变成为了她的准未婚夫、准新郎……"
  • 犯上豪门老公

    犯上豪门老公

    〈本台快讯〉娱乐圈羡煞旁人的金童玉女情海生变,日前流行天王韩日栩劈腿新晋银柳影后柳君伊,高调携手新欢,而新欢竟是同门师妹李茉莉,柳君伊大受打击,在其家里自杀未遂……“君伊,我们结婚吧!”一高档的餐厅里,邪魅的男子,轻啜一口红酒,嘴角漾起一抹浅浅的笑意,缓缓放下手中精致的水晶酒杯,望着对面有些失神的女人说道。时间一分一秒的流逝,邪魅男子勾起的弧度,慢慢的回收,看着对面女人因震惊……
  • 肥宅快乐国

    肥宅快乐国

    新书《这谁顶得住》继续原本的调调,希望大家支持。
  • 斩龙吟

    斩龙吟

    【郑重向大家求月票,花花鞠躬感谢!】《斩龙吟》读者交流群:49371777(接待粉丝入群,讨论情节、提供建议)修仙征途,气者筑基,剑道至圣,魔法为尊,剑魄琴心,为复国而战,为天下而战,驰骋八方疆土、天下归心之时,一日成皇,美人天下唾手可得。然沧海吐珠,月华新涌,斩龙剑微吟,落寞尘埃应归去,仙者俯瞰红尘,葬爱几许终逝去……复国土:王者终将为王!屌丝逆袭,复故国,揽佳人,坐拥天下!修仙界:正邪本无定论!灾祸横行,闯洪荒,搅深海,勇闯三界!仙家法宝,上古神兽,奇妙灵术,应有尽有!人族、妖族、鲛人、仙界,纷争不断!炼气,剑道,魔法,三辰精妙灵术、斗技,样样精通!且看苦大仇深的落魄少年,如何凭借一柄斩龙残剑驰骋修仙之路,最终复辟家国、成为人皇、三辰之尊吧!
  • The Monster Men

    The Monster Men

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 后甲子余墨

    后甲子余墨

    柳鸣九先生的随笔集包括怀人、忆旧以及与友人的书信往还等内容。《这位恩师是圣徒》《蓝调卞之琳》怀念外文所的两位前辈学人冯至和卞之琳,是本集颇见功力的华彩篇章。改革之初学术风气乍暖还寒,柳先生率先冲破思想禁锢的一部《萨特研究》既招来艳羡的目光,亦被守旧者列作“精神污染”的标本,横遭禁毁。卞之琳上承徐志摩的诗风,早年以一首《断章》蜚声宇内,他虽有一段游历红色根据地的过往,然而又中途退却,于是在社科院便属夹在李健吾、杨季康、罗大冈等学者与老干部之间的角色,颇为尴尬;但“贵族的血是蓝色的”,柳先生笔下的这位名流、雅士的确卓尔不群,在数十年风云变幻的学术生涯中显示出超然、洒脱的个性。
  • 中国古代戏曲艺术

    中国古代戏曲艺术

    “中国文化知识读本”丛书是由吉林文史出版社和吉林出版集团有限责任公司组织国内知名专家学者编写的一套旨在传播中华五千年优秀传统文化,提高全民文化修养的大型知识读本。 刘旭编著的《中国古代戏曲艺术》为丛书之一,生动介绍了先秦、秦汉时代的戏曲,宋金杂剧、宋元南戏、恢弘元曲、明代戏曲、清代戏曲等曲艺艺术。 《中国古代戏曲艺术》中优美生动的文字、简明通俗的语言、图文并茂 的形式,把中国文化中的物态文化、制度文化、行为文化、精神文化等知识要点全面展示给读者。
  • 语言艺术全书(4册)

    语言艺术全书(4册)

    语言是一门艺术,亦是通于人情世故大门的关键;换言之人情世故,大半蕴藏于语言中。然良好的口才并不是天生而是可以通过学习和训练塑造出来的。再者人不是孤立存在于世,都是在与他人的交往中生存,而语言则是我们用来交往的基本手段。故本书通过大量贴近生活的事例和精炼的要点,使读者认识到表达的重要性,以及如何才能让自己更会说话,能迅速练就“三寸不烂之舌”。
  • 革除遺事

    革除遺事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。