Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1843-02-03
AN AwruLLY THRILLING SNAKE STORY

The following wonderful and startling relation oil
an encounter by young lady at the South, with a
hideous snake, we copy from Mississippi paper
We had read and heard before OF numerous and ter
ribe instances of the iufment Of fearful PRESENT..
ments of future calamity, but this the most appall-
| ing Of all, almost took the hair off from head
Indeed, were not the incident vouched for by eye
witnesses of the most unquestionabe vcracty, we
should with extreme reluctance credit relation so
| frightlul-which by the way, all persons Of weak
nerves will do well to skip over.
| Sometime last Summer, the Inhabitants Of Man
| chester, Mississippi, gave a barbecue-which was
attended by most of the fashion and beauty OF the
town and surrounding country 1t happened that
among the guests there was young lady, Miss nj 4,
recently from one of the Eastern cities, who on
a visit to her relations in the ncgbborhood Of the
| town. Miss M. was gay and exceedingly FASH
ionable young lady, and witha possessed an uncom
mon share of spirit and courage, except in the mat
ter of snakcs-and of these she had great dread
that she scarcely dared 10 walk any where except
in the most frequented places, for fear ofencounter
ing them. Every effort used, but without avail,
to rid her of her childish fears. They haunted her
continually, until at last II became the settled CON
viction of her mind that she destined TO fall
victim to the iangs of rattesnake. The sequel
will show how soon her terrible prcsentiment was
fulfilled
Towards the close of the day, while scores of fa-
ry feet were keeping time in the dance 10 the mer-
of enjoyment, scream was heard from Miss Nj
followed by the most agonizng cries for help. The
crowd gathered around her Instantly, aud behed
her standing, the perfect image of despair with her
hands grasping portion of her dress with the te
nacity of viper IL some time before she
could be rendered sufficiently calm to tell the cause
other alarm, and they gathered from her broken
CARNATIONS that she gr0SpiRg Tie hedd If snake
among The toIds Of her dreSS,-and dreaded 10 let
60 her hold, for fear of receiving the fatal blow
intel
but the most of the ladies' to their honor be il told
remained with her, determined not 10 leave her in |
this dreadful extremity. They besought her not TO
relax her hold as her safety depended upon it, until
some one could be found who had the courage to |
seize and remove the terrible reptile. There were
none of the lades,-howevcr, who had the courage
to perform the act and the condition of Miss NJ |
was becoming more and more critical every mo-
ment II was evident that her strength was failing
very fast, and that she could not maintain her hold
many minutes longer.
A hasty consultation among the calmest of the Ia
dies was held, when it determined that Dr.
Iisim, who was present, should be called 10 their
lie was quickly on the spot and being
l man OF uncommon courage, he was not many mo
nents within the circle Of weeping and halr-faint.
ng females, until he had caught the tail of the
snake and wound it firmly round his hand to make
sure o his hold He then told Miss NJ that she
must let go at the moment he jerked il away and
10 make the act as instantaneous possible he told
ler that he would pronounce the words one two,
hTee, and that, al the moment he pronounced the
asst VOID, she must let go her hold, and he doubted
not that lie could withdraw the snake before IL
'oud have time TO strike. All stood in breathess
iOrror, awaiting the act Of life or DEATH and al the
moment the word three pronounced, the Doc
or jerked out the largest and most diabolical look
ng hustle that was ever seen in Mississippi ! :
The whole affair was at once explained. The ias-
enngs Of the machine had become loose during the
anclng, and It bad shifted its position in such