Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1867-08-31
A Terrible Bed Ia;l0w.

at which men are still young, but his
hair was as white rs snow. One sell
dom sees, even on the heads of the
Oldest men, hair of such immaculate
whitcness, lie sat by my side in acar
Of the Great Wcstorn 2nilronG in Cana
da, and was looking out Of the Window.
Suddenly turning his head, he caught
me in the act of staring at him-a rude
ness of which l was ashamed. l was
about to say words Of apology, when
he quietly remarked:
Don't mention it, sir--I am us ed to
it,
The frankncss of this observation
pleased me, and in a very little time we
were convcrsing on terms Of familiar
acquaintance, and before long he told
me the whole story.
Il am q soldier in the army of India,
said he, 'anl as is often the case with
soldiers, I was little too fond of rum.
One day got drunk and was shut up
in the black hole for it.
lay down on the floor of the dun
gcon, and was just going to sleep,
when ! felt a cold, Shiny shape crawl
ing across my right hand which lay
stretched out before my head on the
floor. | knew at once what it was-a
snake. My first impulse was to draw
away my hand; but knowing if did
so the poisonous reptile would probably
strike his fangs into me, l lay still with
my heart beating in my breast like a
trip hammer. OF course, my fright
sobcred me Instantly. ! 1rcalizcd all my
peril in its fullest extent. Oh, how |
lamcntcd the hour ] had touched liquor =.
T" e.,e"y glass Of liquor they say there
is serpent; but it does not come In
the shape it came to me.
With slow, undulaIing motion the
serpent dragged its carcass across my
face, inch by inch, and crcpt down over
my breast and thrust its head inside my
Jacket. As | felt the hidcous scraping
of the Shiny body over my cheeks il was
only by the most tremendous effort that
[ succeeded in restraining myself from
yelling loudly with mingled horror aud
disgust.
At last | felt the tail waggling down
towards my chin; but imagine what |
felt at heart, if you can imagine it, as |
realized that the dreadful creature had
coiled itself up under my jacket as
lay, and had seemingly gone to sleep,
for it was as still as death. Evidently
it had no idea thnt | was q human
creature, if it had it would never have
slept in this manner.
Three hours lay with the dreadful
weight in my bosom, and each minute
was like an hour to mc-likc u year,
| seemed to have lived lifetime in that
brief space. Every incident of nv life
passed across my memory in rapid sue
ccsson, as they say is the case with n
drowning man. thought olmy moth
er, away in old England-my happy
home Mt Avon-my Mary, the girl |
loved, and never expected TO see thcm
more, for, no matter how long bore
this, 1 felt that it would certainly end in
death at last
| lay as rigid as a corpse, scarcely
daring to breathe, and all the time my
breast was growing colder and colder
where the snake was lying against it,
with nothing but a thin cotton shirt be-
tween my skin and its.
I knew if stirred it would strike ;
but I also felt that could not bear this
much longer Even if | succeeded in
lying still until the guard came, cx-
pcctcd his opening the door and coming
in would be my death warrant all the
same, for no doubt that reptile would
see that | was q man as soon rs the
light should be let in at the door.
At last heard footsteps approach
ing. There was rattling at the lock.
1t was the guard. He opened the door.
The snake-A COBRA DI cArELo-l
now saw-darting up its huge hoolcd
head, with the h''leous rings arounl its