Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1857-05-15
RASBURGH, VERMONT, FRIDAY. MAY Is, 1857.

skin was drawn to tension that seemed
its utmost, and yet / could tell by the
of the large hard scales upon
the belly that he was drawing himself
tighter!
For Gods sake" l gasped, stricken
with absolute terror, "what shall / do p
What could l do? The enemy for whom
| had at first held so little thought, was
killing me slowly, openly, surely, and !
bad no help! /, stout, strong man, was
being actually held at the deadly will of
a black snakel My breath was now
short, faint, and qnick, and I knew that
| was growing purple in the face! My
hands and arms were swollen, and my
fingers were numbed I had let 90 of
the snakes neck, and he now carried the
upper part of his body in graceful curve,
his head vibrating from side to side with
an undulating motion of extreme grace
fulness.
At length l staggered! Twas losing
my strength rapidly,~and the pain of my
body had become excruciating. The
snakes skin where it was coiled about
me was SO tight that it seemed almost
transparent. He had found me, or had
found him, in a state of hunger, his stom-
ach free from food, and his muscular force
unimpaired. A second time l staggered
and objects began to swim before me.
| A dizzy sensation was in my head, 8
faintness at my heart, and a pain the mos
agonising in my body! The snake nov
had three feet of body free. He haC
drawn himself certainly three feet longe
: than before. He darted his head unde
; my right arm, and brought it up over m,
! shoulder and pressing his under jaw firm
: ly down, there, he gave a sudden win
that made me groan with pain. Fac
moment was an age of agony each sec
ond a step nearer to death
l My knife! Oh, if l could but reac
: it! Why not? Why not tear it out
, My arms were free. Mercy! why ha
] I not thought of this before, when m
: hands had some strength in them? "
] I would try it. collected all my +,
d naming power for the effort, and mad
y the attempt. My trowsers were of blu
t, cotton stuff, and very strong; | could n
e tear it. I thought of the stitches; the
% might not be so tenacious. | graspt
y the cloth upon the inside of my thig
1t and gave my last atom of strength to tt
L effort. The stitches started; they ga
ID away. This result gave me hope, al
'e hope gave me power. Another pull
d with both hands-aud the pocket W
laid bare! With all the remaining for
i | could command, with hope of life,
Id home, of everything loved on earth
L the effort, l caught the pocket upon
: inside and bore down upon it. The
n, was cracking of the threads, sound
i'd tearing cloth, and-my knife was in 1
w hands.
it l had yet sense enough to know IL
k the smallest blade was the sharpest, a
ke l opened it. With one quick, nerve
Id movement, l pressed the keen edge up
the tense skin, and drew it across. W
or dull tearing snap, the body parted, 9
nd the snake fell to the ground in two piec
IS, l staggered to the boat, reached it, g
ice there sank down. / knew nothing M
until l heard voice calling my name
sp- l opened my eyes and looked up.
ielf father stood over me with terror depic
Mt on his eountenance. told him my
led ry as best / could. He went up and
or the duck had taken from the snake,
also brought along the two pieces
lhe made of my enemy. He told me
les had heard me cry out, and at once stal
mad off in the large boat after me, thougl
ssS- was a long while ere he saw my boat.
'om had lain there over half an hour W
and he found me.
ped When we reached home, the snake
ght measured, and found to be eight feet
be- four inches in length 1t was mi
ex- before fully recovered from the eff
ing of that hugging; and to this day thel
was something in the very name of snake
and sends chill of horror to my heart.
and
t. "a The pavement of London is
ped of the greatest wonders Of any age.