“That
Brazos River sure was good to the folks who lived along her banks. Sure enough!
“We
fished and hunted; she provided a grand bounty for poor folks, the likes of us.
There was ducks and geese, turtle doves, lots of wild game; and, she sure held
a bounty of fruits and berries.
“She
had snapping turtles the size of bushel baskets; man, they are good eating.
See! We’d go swimming in the river and dive down to the muddy bottom after
feeling along with our toes.”
He
laughed. “Many a man, woman and kid lost toes to those mean old monsters; snap
one or two or more right off; had to be real careful---and…quick! When we found
one of those horny-shelled critters, he’d burrow into the mud; we had to go
down and pull him loose. That was mighty hard work; but, Man! That was fine
eating fare. Caught my fair share of ’em, too!
“Pa
was swimming in the river one afternoon afore supper and he stumbled across one
of the demons. He whooped and went under; took him three tries and still, no
turtle soup meat.
“When
he came up that third time for a fresh breath, he was nearly done-in. An old
deadfall came floating down the current and he grabbed on to it as he was wore
out. Lightning had hit the tree sometime in the past; it was charred out in a
hollow depression in the middle and Pa couldn’t see into it from his low position
on the water.
“Now,
that mean old river is rife with water moccasins; they ball-up in a writhing
mass and float on down the river. Many a man has met his fate when he gets
tangled with those devils.
“Pa,
gasping for breath, slung his arm over that log; then, just as his eyes got to
the level where he could see into the cavity of that burned out tree, a snake
bit him in the cheek. I didn’t notice the viper in its den until I saw the
strike; quick as greased lightning! Too late! To yell.
“Pa
yelped and grabbed at the wound as he slid beneath the water surface. Curly
dove in and swam to where Pa had gone under; Caleb grabbed his ole rifle. Curly
came up a bit downstream, dragging Pa’s limp body to shore. Just that quick, he
surely was stone-cold dead!
“The
waves rocked that ole ‘snake-pit’ log as it bobbed along; that damn snake’s
head sticking up like he was plenty pleased at what he had done to Pa; just
sunning himself on that black, half-burned boat; pleased as punch; kind-a
proud-like.
“Caleb
took aim at that evil head as it bobbed along; a single rifle ball took the
serpent’s head, clean off.” Rob scowled, then, adding, “Those moccasins can be
real aggressive; they sure are ‘deadly’; that’s a self-evident fact, I’ll
guarantee it.”
Bow-leg
nodded his head, smiling. “That Caleb sure can shoot!” He concluded.
Frazier
watched the boy, sure that the youth was concocting a plan of some sort of
revenge.
“Funny
thing: We gathered up the stinking carcass of that headless devil-serpent;
weren’t no moccasin; it was a dirty ‘ambush’ rattler!” Rob put an emphasis on
the ‘ambush’ description.
He
made a wry face, then smiled mirthlessly, saying, “Only one way to handle a
rattler…” he trailed off, considering. Then, having arrived at a conclusion on
the matter, added, “Maybe I’ll just drift on yonder, down Texas-way; look up ole
Caleb; spin him a yarn about Nebraska!
Rattle snakes.” He smiled, “I’ll bet he sure knows how to handle them Yankee-type
bushwhackers.”
Frazier
caught the drift of the boy’s meaning; still, he couldn’t abide cold-blooded
murder.
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