The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1871-12-23

l dared not fire but with trembling
hands, felt IN my pockets to see il J,
there was Il bullet i'm them. and then /
softly pulling out the r:l:nrod. un- |
screwed the cover of the worm, and |
drew the wldding. reversed the piece. !
and let the shot fall patterng out,
when softly forced down the bullet i
upon the power. examined the cap.
and stood ready waiting for Il chance /;
for thonTilt that the shot might have
scattered. :,,stl. ii so little. / might
have injured the child i'll place OF its
enemy.
And f'aere we stood for quits. ha,f an
. ltonr. watching ilitently tiic horrible
object sneStled comfortably i'm the
blanket; expecting nonsestarify that
! tic baby would wake. while my hand
| t,pmblcol so that could not hold the
gun steady. One minute | was think
! ing that | hail .tlnne wrong in clrtng
/ iiIg the charge. and tie next that /
! was right then f:incied that the gun
1 might miss fire. or that ! might stay
! my own child. \ hundred horrible
! thoughts entered my mind before little
Joe began to cry out 10 his mother.
and she gided away While | muttered
TO myself. = Thank Heaven - for she
was spared from seeing what followed.
As if at one and the same moment,
the child and the snake woke up. |
! saw the baby's hand move, and its
| little arm thrown ont, while from the
motion beneath the blanket | knew
| that it must have kicked a little. Then
t there was a rapid movement in the
cradle, and az glanced along the gun
! barrel taking aim, there was the whole
, OF the horrible reptile exposed to view.
coil gliding over coil as it seemed to
tiil the foot OF the cradle; ard now,
had lny gun been charged with shot.
| Should have fired. so as to have dis
abicd some part OF the body; but with
only a single bullet felt that the head
must be the l'art attacked When oppor-
tunity served.
Glide, glide, glide, one coil over the
other quickly and easily. as if it We're
untying its knottcd body, while now
the head slowly rose from where it had
lain, and crept nearer and Ecarer to
the chi!u's face. the forked-tonguc
darting in and out, and playing rapid
" on either side of the hideotts mouth.
| could see the glance of the snakes
eyes. and expected every moment to
hear the child shrek out with terror,
rs the lowered head now rested over
its breast. Bit no, the child lay per-
fcctiy still for q few moments, and
then stood trembling i'll every limb
as saw the snakes head thrown back,
ailf then begin to sway to and fro,
! and from side to side, the glistening
neck of the reptile gently uldllating.
while the tongue still tlarted in and
out of the tight, dreadful looking
mouth.
Now was the time when I should
have fired. but | was too unncrved !;
and laying down my gun. l seized the
hoe, meaning to attack the snake with
the stout handle but my hand fell
paralyzed to my side as saw the lit
tie innocent in the cradle smile and
then laugh ut the gently undulating
head of the snake; while. as the ag--
: ony grew to be greater than could
bear, in seeing the little white hands
: try to catch ;t it as it swayed to and
fro, my powers seemed to come back.
| siatched up the gun, and rs the
snakes head was drawn back pre-
: paratory to striking. pulled tile trig
ger, when the sharp crack of the per.
z cussion cap alone followed-ieriiap:
. provitlentially, for in my trembling
state might have injured the child
e Then 1 saw rapid writhing of the
coils i'll the cradle, and as the tail o
the snake glitled over the side. every
thing around me seemed to swim, ailt
: tried to catch at the wall of the hut
|
!: But that soon went off and then
! gazing in at the window, l tried tx
: make out the whereabouts of my
enemy. as I recappcd and tapped TIN
r gun SO that the powder might run III
I the nipple. The snake was nowller
! to be seen, and, darting in, | seizet
! the child, and carried it out TO it
: mother, when now feeling relieved O
/, one horrible anxiety. | obtained IN,
t shot-poslch from the kitchen, rammct
down charge upon the bullet, ant
!, cautiously went in search of the rep
$ tile.
= knew that he must still be i'm tha
part of the hut we used for II sleeping
!, place. and after cautiously peerins
: about. came upon the hole where i
. had taken refuge-an opening be
tween the ronghly-sawn planks lait
y loosely down to form floor; where
= unless there was an outlet beneath thu
!. woodwork. | felt that the snake mus
be there and to make it more proba
), bic, there was our cat gazing will
q staring eyes down at the hole.
: just then heard rustling beneatl
!. my feet, and as 1 looked down. cou!t
see between two boards the scaly bod,
r gliding along. The next lnomen
e there came tile loud report of the gun
the place was full of smoke. there wa
t a tremendous scl,ffiing noise, and as
e looked down between the boards
where the charge had forced q passag
. through, there was no sign of TIN
9 snake.
) . Harry, Harry - shrielsed M,
4 wife just then and on rushing ont
there was the monster writllini
: about in tire path, evidently basil.
{ wounded, while some crushed dow
9 flowers by the hut wall showetbplain
4 ly the hole Of communication.
J. never saw l. snake writhe and twist q
that creature did. but was too excit
e ed then to feel afraid, and few blows
n from the bnft-end OF the gun laid IL s.
e that there was only little movemen
lx,xA &, itc h<,<lxx .x.l,;x,h III NOT gfOi