Weekly Calaveras chronicle. (Mokelumne Hill, Calaveras County, Cal.) 18??-1874, 1867-12-28
A Terrible Redfellow.

siderable curiosity. His face indicated
man of not over thirty years-a period
at which men are still young, bat his
hair was as white as fresh fallen snow.
One seldom sees even on the heads of
the oldest men, hair of such immacu-
late whiteuess. He sat by my side in
a car of the Great Western Railroad, in
Canada, and was looking out the win
dow. Suddenly turning his head he
caught me in the act of staring at him
"a rudeness of which | was ashamed
| was about to say some word of apollo
gy, when lie quietly remarked:
Don't mention it, sir; I'm used to
it,
The frankness of his observation
pleased me, and in very little while
We were conversing on terms of familiar
Iacquaintanccship, and before long he
told me the whole story.
4 was soldier in the army of India,
he said, and as is often the case with
soldiers, I was a little too fond OF good
liquor. One day [ got drunk and was
shut up in the black hole for it, l
slunked down upon the floor of the dun
geon, and was just dropping off to
sleep, when felt cold, Shiny shape
crawling across my right hand as it lay
stretched out above my head on the
floor. I knew at once what it was--a
lsnake! OF course my first impulse was
to draw away my hand, but knowing
if did SO the poisonous reptile would
probably strike its fangs into me, | lay
still with my heart beating in my breast
like tilt hammer. OF course my
fright sobered me instantly. I realized
all my peril in its fullest extent O.,
how | lamented the hour that I had
touched liquor. In every glass of liq-
uor they say there is a serpent; but it
does not come to everybodyiu the shape
it came to me. With slow undulating
motion the reptile dragged its carcass
across my face, inch by inch, and crept
down over my breast, and thrust his
head inside my jacket. As | felt the
hideous scraping of the shiny body over
my cheeks, it was only by the most ire
mendous effort that l succeeded in re-
straining myself from yelling loudly
with mingled terror and disgust. At
last | felt the tail wriggling down TO-
wards my chin; but imagine what l
felt at heart, if you can imagine it. as
I realized that the dreadful creature
had coiled himself up under my jacket
as lay and had seemingly goLe to
sleep, for it was still as death. Evident
y it had no idea that l was a human
creature; if it had it would not have
acted in this manner. All snakes are
cowardly, and they will not approach a
man unless to strike him in self defense.
Three hours I lay with that dreadful
weight in my bosom, and each minute
was like an hour to me-like year
[ seemed to have lived a lifetime in
that brief space. Every incident of my
life passed across my mind in rapid
succession, as they say is the case with
drowning men. l thought of my moth
er, away in old England; my happy
home by the borders of the Avon; my
Mary, the girl I loved, and never ex-
pected to see them more. For no mat
ter how long bore this, I felt that it
would end in death at last. I lay as
rigid as corpse scarcely daring even
to breathe, and all the time my breast
was growing colder where the snake lay
against it, with nothing but thin cot
ton shirt between my skin and it. l
knew if I stirred, it would strike; but
I felt | could not bear it much longer
Even if l succeeded in lying still until
the guard came, I expected that his
opening the door and coming in would
be my death warrant all the same; for
no doubt the reptile would see that l
was man, as soon as the light should
be let in az the door At last I heard
footsteps approaching. There was a
rafting in the lock. 1t was the guard.
He opened the door, The snake-a
cobra di capello I now saw-darted up
its huge hooded head, with the hideous
rings around its eyes, as if about to
strike. shut my eyes and murm1red
a short prayer-then it glided away
with a swift motion, and disappeared in
the darkness. I staggered to my feet
and fell swooning into tho arms Of the
guard. For weeks afterwards I was
very sick and when | was, able to be
about, found that my hair was as
white as you now see it. | have never
touched drop of liquor since
4 NEW Polar Continent seems to