Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-02-21

| provided he succeeded in obtaining IL. To
kill snake twenty feet long, and half as
thick as man-for the python appeared to
be both-would be no small triumph The
antelope ives forgotten and the snake became
the object of the hunters skill.
Good WilIem had no skill about him he
| knew Ct no mode of attracting this new sort of
! enemy, except dealing with il as he would
with qusdruped-that is, sending a bullet
into it-and this he did the moment after
| His roer was leveled and glapcing through
his ivory sights, he fred the large ball through
the thickest part Of the rcptile's body.
! The latter felt the shock, and suddenly un-
| folding itself, dropped its victim-now nothing
more than a msngled csrcase, with scarce
whole bone in it The rapidity with which
the snake glded OF showed that the wound
had done il but little harm.
| TIE hunter thought of reloading agair,
when he perceived the Ssrpeut fast king to
the rocks, that in large masses lay piled up
near the bottom Of the cliff. Among these
was its retreat; and if il once reached them,
! Groot Wilem saw that he should rever set
| eyes on it again. Without staying to reload
his gun, then, he ran IN among the trees, and
| followed the direction taken by the serpent
| Although the snakes glide along with con-
siderable raPidity, they can by no means go
| 50 fast as a MN, and in less than dozen
| seconds Gr"ot Willem had OYertsken he py-
| thon, and foE thai matter might have trcdien
! upOa its tail.
There he was, close beside the fearful iopk-
ing monster, but without the knowledge how
| TO attack it
He began by striking at its body with the |
butt of his gun; hut although his blows were |
| delivered fairly enough, the metal ShOi heel |
| OF his rOer only glanced from tho slippery |
skin OF the snake without harming il In the |
| least, or even retarding its progress towards |
the cliff. Il made no attempt to retaIis:e,
nyi iy hav nrn 10 e. l,,-
1t was almost successful; for although Groot |
Willen pounded away with all his right, il !
reached tho rocks in spite OF him, and had |
buried half Of its long body within a crevicc |
(nO doubt the entrance Of its den) before the /
hunter thought Of changing his tactics.
1t was now a critical moment with Groot |
Willem. Another instant, and the remaining |
half Of the snake would slip out of sight, and |
then good bye to 1t. new determination t. /
succeed came over tho hunter The snake |
was not a poisonous one, and therefore the en- /
counter could not Ee very dangerous 1t |
might bite him, but he had battIed with many
a biting creature before now, and CONQUERED |
them too He would try his strength upon |
the snake. Casting his rOer aside, he stopped /
and caught the python by the tail and COM
menced hauling upon it
At the first ''pluck" he drew the reptile |
several feet outward; bat, to his surprise, it |
then held fast, and notwithstanding his great |
strength-Groot Wil!em was powerful man
he was unable to draw il a foot farther. The |
creature hsd, no doubt, got the forepart of its |
body around an angle in tho rocks, and aided |
by its scaiy skin, was enabled to hold fast
GroOt Wiilem pulled with all his might A |
sailor in a storm could not have hauled harder
upon the main brace; bat all TO no purpCse,
as not another fOot Of that part Of the python |
that was still visible, cOuld be heightened.
About the half Of It was still outside but the |
ether ten feet were buried within tie dark
recesses Of the rocks
For several minutes Groot Willem continued
TO exert mis- strength, dragging the long cylin-
der until he could hear It's ccrtebIiU crack,
but without gaining an inch D.! On tho contra
ry, be had already lost several inches. Every
time that he relaxed his hold, the python was
enabled TO move forward z bit, and this ground
it never gave up again. If GrOot Willem al
lowed 1t an inch, II was sure to struggle for
sn ell II had all tie advantage On its side
as it pulled '"tth tie gram, while its antago-
mist was exerting his strength against it
GroOt WiIlen felt confident he could hold
the python in this position, as long as he could
stand upon his feet; but what good would
there be in so doing lie could not kill it in
that way. If he were to let go'' for but an
instant, be very well knew that the mex: in
slant would show him the last inch Of the tail
disappearing into the crevice No, he could
not let go, and be was resolved not to let 20,
until he should at least try the patience Cf his
opponent May be it would tire of being thus
held upon the /" stretch, " he would let him |
pull it out again.
If there had only been some one with him |
to administer 4 few smart blows upon the |
creature body, it would have been all well |
but the camp was at a very long distance off |
and behind the trees. His companions could
neither see nor hear him.
After standing on the strain n considerable
time, bright idea entered the brain Of the
hunter. There grew a sm all tree beside him
in fact ne was close by its trunk. The thought |
occurred, that, if By any means he could faS-
ten the tail to the tree, he could then 90 10
work with sappling, and beat the snake to
death at his pleasure.
He was a ready fellow, Groot WilIem, and
q few moments sulficel him to mature his
plans lie CHANGED to have a strong cord
in tho ample pocket Of his jacket, which would
serve to effect the purpose, Ii no could, only
manage somehow 10 make il fast to the tail
This he proceeded to do at once.
StradlliuG the snake So as to hold It paTtly
between his knees, be was enabled 10 loon tho
cord tightly around il, and the thing was
dono. Ia minute moro the other spd uf
the cord was tightly knottcd around tho trunk |
Of the tTec
Groot Wi!icn now broke o(I a sapplug, dc
terDinei either to beat the hinder half of the
python to n jelly, or mbke 1t surrender and |
show its head
lie had not delivered the third blow when |
it adopted the latter alternative; and the
whole Ct its body now glided rapidly back |
out Of the creyice-sO rapidly that Groot VIII
len was not able to avoid the onset of the en- |
ragged retile, and the next moment he was
gathered within its coils
SO quick was the act that he scarce knew
how ii had been accomplished He saw the
head, with its open jaws extended, dart 20
wards him; he sprang to one side, but felt
the cold scaly body against his limbs a: il
pulling him towards the tree; and the moment
after, he was swept close up TO the trunk, and
pressed tightly against il.
lie had just time to perceive that the folds
Of the serpent were around his limbs, and also
around the trunk Of the tree-just time to feel
that they were gradually tightening upon him
when the head with its extended laws and
terrible teeth, came right opposite his face,
and the eyes of the monster CLEANED right into
his 4