Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-07-25

~ erept in and reached the cradle side un.
neard, dared not chop a. the brest fol
Tear Of in!uring the child, for could sec
that some Of the folds lay right across Il
! dared not make = noise, lest the nex,
moment the child should wake as well a.
the reptile, for / knew the rapidity with
wn.cn the reptiles could wreathc fold aftel
ioid around the object they attacked; while
q poisonous nature. they strike in ar
instant. Thoughts came swiftly enough
but they were unvavsiling, FOX to wait ill
the baby woke, or TO 90 IN a10 attack the
snake, seemed equally dangerous. Even
III made slight noise the DANCE sstms I'd
~ great, since. though the snake nigh,
wake first and glide of, the probabilitic,
we're just - great that the child nigh.
wake ct the same time.
And 30 turned over the ssances again
and again, my eyes al the while fixed upon
the too sleeping occupants Of the cradle.
whose pleasant warmth had ev dently 1t
tnsesd the reptile
81 vent IN and sew Il there" whispered
ny wife, and then, without taking my eyes
for 90 instant from the snake. ! whispered
the enc word "Gnp," and she glided from
my side.
did not know then, but she told me a.
ter wards, bow she had carried the little
boy 10 distanss and given him some how
srs TO play with, while she crept back to
the hut, and, reaching in at the kitchen
window, brought me INV gun, for had not
stirred. And now, ~ grasped tho piece
in nv hand, knowing - did that il was
loaded, il seemed Of no use, for dared not
fire but, with trembling hand, felt in my
pockets TO sec If there was bullet in them,
and then softly pulling out the ramrod, /
unscrewed the cover Of the worm, drew the
| wadding, reversed the piece and lot the shot
fall pattering out, when softly forced down
the bullet upon the powder, examining the
cap and stood rea ~ waiting for chance ),
for thought that the shot nigh. have scat
tered, and II ever 20 little, might have in
Iured the child instead Of its enemy.
And there W stood for quite half an hour,
| pletely nestled in the blanket, expecting
momsntarily that the baby would awake,
while my hand trsmbled 90 that could
not hold the gun steady. One minute
was thinking that had done wrong. 10
changing the charge. the next minute that
! was right. then fanoied the gun might
miss FIRE, OF that might slsy my own
child. A hundred horrible thoughts On
tered my mind before little Joe began to cry
out to his mother, and she glidsd away,
while ! rnuttsssd 70 myself, "Thank hsav-
eni" fer she was spared from seeing what
followed.
AZ II ct ess and The cane moment, the
child and the snake woke up. saw the
baby's hand move, and its little arm thrown
out. while from the motion beneath the
blanket knew that it must have kicked
little. Then there Was . rapid movement
in tho cradle, aud - | glazed along the
gun-barrsl taking aim, there WAS The whole
OF the horrible reptile exposed to view, coil
gliding over coil a. il seemed to ill the
whole Of the cradle and nov, had my gun
been charged with shot, would have ared,
30 90 to have disabled some part Of ito
body; but, with only single bullet, I felt
that the head must b. the part attacked
whom opportunity served.
neck Of the beast undulating, whilst the
tongue still darted ia and out Of tho dread
ful looking mouth.
Now was the time whom I should have
fire but was too unnerved, and, laying
down my gun, | seized my hat, meaning to
attack the beast with its stout handle; but
my hand fell paralyzed at my side as saw
the little one in the cradle smile and laugh
At the gently undulating head Of the snake
while, 10 the agony grew to be greater than
| could bear, in seeing the little white
hands try to catch at it AZ it swayed to and
fro, my powers seemed to come back. |
snatched up the gun, and a. the snakes
head vas drawn back preparatory to strik-
ing, pulled the trigger, when the sharp
crack Of the percussion cap alone followed,
ling state | might have injured The child
Then saw rapid wrcathing Of the coils
in the cradle, and az the tail Of the snake
glided over the side, everything around me
seemed TO swim, and tried to catch at the
wall OF tho hut to save myself from fall
ing
Bat that soon west Of, and gazing in At
the window, tried to make out tho where
abouts Of my enemy. as re-csppsd and
tapped the gun, 90 that the powder might
run up the nipple.
The snake was nowhere to DO seen, and
dArting in ssizsd the child, aud carried It
out 10 itsmothsr, whom, now feeling OF one
terrible calamity, obtained my shot.pouch
from the kitchen. rsmmed down . charge
upon tho bullet, and cautiously went in
search Of tho reptile.
knew he must still be in the part Of the
hut we used for a sleeping place. and, after
cautiously pesring about, I came upon the
the hoe where II had taken refuge,-an
opening between the roughly -sawn planks
laid loosely down TO form door: while
ucless there was an outlet beneath the
woodwork. felt that the beast must be
there; aud to make it moro probable there
was our Cat, that we had bought a kitten
in Sidney, gazing with staring eyes down
at the hole.
just then heard q soft rustling beneath
my feet, aud as looked down, | could see
between the two boards the scaly body
gliding along. The next moment came
the loud report o; gun, the place was
full Of smoke. there was . loud scuf1ing
noise, and 40 looked down between the
boards whore the charge had forced pas
sage through, there was no sign Of the
snake. "Harry, Harryi' shrisked nv
wife just then; and on runsing out there
wae the beast writhing about In the path,
evidently badly wounded. some crushed
dowa flowers By the hut wall showed
plainly the hole Of communication. new
er saw snake wriths and twist Is that crea-
ture did. bat vas toe excited then 70
feel afraid, and few blows from the butt
end Of ny gun laid IL 90 that there vas on.
" little movement Left In its body. which
did DOT stop for On hour or two alier had
cut on its head With the axe.
! should liked TO have skinned the beast,
but conld net master my horror. I
measure Il though; fourteen feet three in
chss long Il was, and ~ thick % my arm
while - to il weight cav the cradle rock
to and fro heavily - it glided over the side.
Snakes are scarce nov in these parts, for
there isnt man In Queensland that doe
net vsgs wsr against then, and, whore
there was one settler then, there are
scores now.
MASONIC 0RADnNo