Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-05-22

thing, but pretended profound attention,
and gazed with delight on the lovely mouth
that spoke so learnedly. 1t was quite a
little lecture on reptiles. Presently Ernes.
tine opened the basket beside her, and the
next moment an extraordinary object writh-
ed and danced within few inches of my
face. Its appearance was so sudden that 1
did not at the; instant recognise its nature,
but when I did, Thought Tshould have fal-
len from my chair with terror. A living and
very lively snake stretched out towards me
its horrible head and forked tongue.
"Here you have a most beautiful speci'
men of the" She wound up the SEN
tence with some Latin name Of snake
I was almost beside myself. From my in
fancy upwards I had held serpents of every
kind in extraordinary respect. Oxen de-
tected my discomposure. "What" she ex-
claimed, laughing scornfully, "you would
pass for naturalist, and are afraid of a
snake? impossible"
And the accursed head, with its CULVER
ing tongue and bright headlike eyes, drew
nearer and nearer, Oxen seeming to enjoy
my manifest uneasiness.
"For Heavens sake ~ cried stake away
that horrible creature"
81 see nothing horrible in it," quietly re-
piled Erncstine. "Obserye how gracefully
its body undulates." And again the reptile
writhed itself just before my nose. jump.
ed up and retreated Ernestine followed me,
snake in hand
81 have never been able to understand" "
began the idiotic counsellor, in doctoral
tone, "whence arose the peculiar aversion
with which men regard all kinds of reptiles.
"The deuce you have not" cried I, still
retreating from Oxen and her odious pet.
"The aversion is not very difficult to account
for. For my part, I abhor the creatures" "
"Pshaw :" said Ernestine, angrily; "you
are but counterfeit naturalist" And there
upon she slapped me across the face with
the snake. I could not restrain cry Of
horror and disgust. Then she returned to
her seat, and put the vermin into its basket.
In my estimation the counsellor's third
daughter had now fallen into the same cate
cory with her sisters. Fragsr, who saw that
I was unable to conquer my innate horror of
snakes, had ordered his daughter to discon-
tinue her unseemly jest; but the poor old
gentleman's authority was evidently at dis
count that day, and Oxen, with diabolical
malignity, had continued to torture me un-
til the perspiration rolled off my forehead.
"Now may Old Nick fly away with all
three ofyou," said I to myself, as I passed
my handkerchief, across my damp brow
"You have seen the last of me at Wiesen-
thai. At daybreak pack up my traps and
leave this place of torment, worse than a cell
of the inquisition, or dungeon in Front de
Beuf's Castle. A nice place to come a-woo-
ing g!-snakes, bullets, and tootA-drawing -
pleasant welcome for suitor."'
The evening wore wearily away. Miss
Oxen, having ascertained that I was no ma
turalist, adopted her sisters system, and
treated me with profound contempt in fact,
she hardly seemed aware of my presence
For my part, the sympathy with which she
had at first inspired me had completely van
ished. Frager was quite put out by the
change in his daughters demeanor, and Of
course cast the blame of it on me. 81 should
never have thought" he said, "that you
would be so alarmed by little harmless
snake"
"Who could have supposed it" cried
Ernestine, applauding her fathers words
awe are different sort of people here"
"It is impossible to change ones nature"
replied.
"Nature !" repeated Ernestine; "what do
you know about nature? For Heavens
sake hold your tongue"
This was really too rude. I was on the
point of making sharp reply, when I saw
Oxen extend her hand towards the reptiles
cage. kept silence and prepared for flight
Never have passed two more irksomc
hours than those that elapsed before bedtime
came. The counsellor proposed a cigar. I
caught at the idea. With glowing IIa-
vana in my mouth, felt as if / should be
safer from the assaults of that cobra de capel-
10, or whatever else it was, that Oxen kept
beside her, like a greyhound in leash, ready
to let slip upon her game I vowed to my
self to smoke the beast to death if possible.
Again was to be baked.
"Bless me, papa" cried the naturalist,
"you forget that my pet cannot bear smoke.
Can you?" she said, raising, to my infinite
alarm, the lid of the snake-inhabited ham,
per.
"True, my DEAR" placidly replied her
father, ~ did not think of it," and, turn
ing to me, "Excuse, me, my dear FRIEND y
he added, "but the little animal really can
not endure tobacco"
1t is bad enough to be henpecked, but to
be chickpecked, to be the slave of three
daughters, and they possessed Of the devil, ap,
peared to me the lowest depth of human de.
gradation. So, because wretched viper OBJ
jected to the fragrant vapour of cigar,
was to be deprived of my after-supper smoke.
For moment my impulse was to kick the
counsellor, jump upon the basket, and bolt
from the house; but calmcr thoughts sue
ceeded, and I sat resigned, merely secretly
wishing that Oxen and the snake were sit,
ting tcte-a-tete in Libyan desert Or a Louis,
lana swamp, and that was a hundred lea.
CUES from Wiesenthal. l had suffered SO