The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1867-06-22
A Terrible BedSeIIow.


locked at my neighbor with considerable
curiosity. His face indicated a man Of not
over thirty years, a period at which men are
still young but his hair was as white as
fresh-iallen snow. One seldom sees. even
on The heads of the Oldest men, hair Of such
immaculate whiteness. He sat by my side
10 Il car of the Great Western railroad, in
Canada, and was looking out of the window.
Suddenly turning his head he caught me IN
the act Of staring at him-a rudenes5 Of
which ! was ashamed I was about to say
words Of apology, when he quietly remarked /:
Don mention It, SIR / IN used to il"
Tie irankness Of this observation pleased
me, and in very little time we were con
versing on terms Of familiar acquaintance
ship; and before long he told me the whole
story.
[ was a soldier in the army of India, ="
said he, and as is often the case with sol
diers, was a little too fond Of liquor. One
day 1 got drunk and was shut up IN the
black-hole for it. slumped down upon the
floor Of the dungeon, and l was Just drop
ping of to sleep, when / felt cold, shiny
shape crawling across my right hand as it
lay stretched out before my head on the
floor knew at once what it was--a snake /!
OF course my first impulse was to draw away
my hand but knowing that If | did so the
poisonous reptile would probably strike its
fangs into me, | lay still, with my heart
beating in my breast Ike q trip hammer OF
course my fright sobered me instantly.
reolized all my peril IN its fullest extent
O, how | lamented the hour that i touched
liquor In every glass Of liquor they say
there is n serpent bnt it does not come in
the shape 1t came to me With a slow un-
dulating motion the reptile dragged its car
cass across my face inch by inch, and crept
down over nay breast and thrust Its head
inside my jacket As / felt the hideous
scrapiug Of the Shiny body over my cheeks
it was only by the most tremendous effort
that l succeeded in restraining myself from
yelling loudly with mingled terror and dis
gust
" At last felt the tail wriegling down to-
wards 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 seem
ingly gone to sleep, for it was as still as
death. Evidently it had no idea that 1 was
human creature if it had it would never
have acted in this manner. Al snakes are
cowardly, and they Will not approach a man
unless to strike hun in self defense. Three
hours I lay with drendful weight in my bo-
som and each minute was like an hour to
me-lil1e year. seemed to have lived a
lifetime in that brief space. Every incident
Of my life passed across my memory in
rapid succession, as they say is the case with
drowning man | thought Of my mother
away in old England; my happy home by
the Avon my Mary, the girl l loved, and
never expected to see them more.
For no matter how long / bore this,
felt that it would be death at last lay as
rigid as q corpse, scarcely daring even tC
breathe, and ali the time my breast was
growing colder and colder where the snake
was lying against it, with nothing but thin
cotton shirt between my skin and its.
knew if ! stir it would strike; but l fell
that could not bear this much longer Even
if / succeeded in lying still until the guard
came, l expected his opening the door and
coming in would he my death warrant al
the same for no doubt the reptile would see
that was a man soon as the light should
be lot in at the door. At last / heard foot
steps approaching There was rafting a
the lock u was the guard He opened
the door The snake--a cobra Oh capellO,
now saw-darting up its huge hooded head
with the hideous rings around its eyes, as
IF about to strike } shut my eyes and muir
INJURED a prayer Then il glided away with
swift motion, and disappeared In the dark
ness staggered to my teetand fell swo0n
inc into the arms of the guard. For weeks
after ] was very sick. and when able to bt
about I found my hair was white as you
now see it. have not touched drop o
liquor since"