The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1867-07-19
A TERRIBLE BEDrILLow.

' ~ % y V-H"t'b .r.i 'i
Hooked a. my psighbor with coniders.
bic curiosity. His face indicated man Of
no, over thirty yeap-a period a which
men are still young, but his hair was' a.
white as fresh fallen snow. Ono seldom
sees even on tho heads Of the Oldest men,
hair Of such Immaculate whiteness. He
sat by my side In a car Of the Great West,
sm Railroad, In Canada, and was looking
on, at the window. Suddenly turning bis
bead he caught me In the act Of staring at
him-a rudspess Of which was ashamed.
I was about to say some words Of apology,
when he quietly remarked: N
sDon't mention Il, sir; I'm used to t."
Tho frankness Of this observation pleas
cd me, and in very little while we were
conycrsing on terms Of familiar acquaint.
aneeship; and before long, be, told mo the,
whole story. It,, q =, Ia. ,...,..,..-
al was a soldier in the army Of India"
said he, "and as is often the case with
soldiers I was little too fond OF good
liquor. One day ! got drunk and was shut
up In the black hole Tor It. lslumped down
upon the floor Of the dungeon, and was
Just dropping off to sleep, when ! felt a
cold, slimy shape crawling across my right
hand as Il lay stretched out above my bead
on the floor. knew ut once what il WINS
a snake or course my first impulse was
to draw away my hand; but knowing that
II ! did 30 the poisonous reptile would prob
ably strike It's fangs into me, ] lay still with
my hear beating In my breast fike trip
hammer. or cou1e my fright sobered me
instantly. I realized all my peril In its
fullest extent. o, how Ilamented tho hour
that ! had touched liquor! In every glass
OF liquor they say there Is serpent but
Il does not come TO everybody in the shape
Il came to me. With slow, undulaiing
motion the reptile dragged its carcass across
my face. inch by inch, and crept down
overlmy breast, and thrust It's head inside
my Jacket. As I felt tho hideous scraping
Of the Shiny body over my checks, It was
only by tho most tremendous effort that l
succeeded in restraining myself from yell.
ing loudly with mingled terror aud disgust.
Al last felt tho tail wriggling down to-
wards my chin but imagine what I felt at
heart, if you can imagine Il, a. ! realized
that the dreadful creature had coiled itself
up under my Jacket as lay, and had seem
ingly gone to sleep. for II was as still as
death. Evidently Il had no idea that was
human creature; /; if II had, Il would never
have acted in this manner. All snakes are
cowanily, aud they viii not approach aman
unless to strike him in self defence, Three
hours lay with that dreadful weight in
my bosom, and each minute was like an
hour to me-like year! seemed to
have lived lifetime In that brief space
Every incident of my life passed across my
memory in rnpid succession, as they say Is
the case will, drowning men. thought Of
my mother. awny in old England my hap.
ny home by the borders OF the Ayon.i my
Mary, the girl lloved. .-and never expected
to see them more. For no matter how long
bore this, felt that II would end In death
at last. lay as rigid as corpse, scarcely
daring even to breathe and all the time my
breast was growing colder and colder, where
the snake lay against II, with nothing but a
thin cotton shirt bcrween my skin and It's.
knew if stirred. 1t would strike; but ]
felt could not bear this much longer
Even II 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 rep.
tile would see that was man, as soon as
the light should be let In at the door. At
last heard footsteps approaching. There
was a rattlinp at the lock. II was the
guard. IIe opened the door. The snake
a cobra di eapeilo now saw-darted up It's
hooded head, with the hideous rings around
its eyes, us if about to strike, shut my
eyes, and murmurcd a prayer. Then Il
gli,ied away with swift motion, and dis.
appeared in The darkness | staggered to
my feet, and fell swoouing into the arms Of
the guard. For weeks after, was very
sick and when was able to be about, I
found that my hair was white rs you now
sec Il. have never touched drop Of
liquor since. WIN. Wir. Sikes.