The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1873-10-25
A Snake Story.

Very talkative people always seem
to me to be divided into two classes
those who lie for purpose and those
who lie for the love oflying; and Sam
Baxter belonged, with broad impair
tiality, to both. With him talsehood
was not more frequently a means than
an end; for he would not only lie
without purpose but at II sacrifice.
heard him once reading a newspaper
to a blindaunt, and deliberately faIsi-
| fying the market reports. The good
old lady took it all in with u tristful
faith, until he quoted dried apples at
fifty cents a yard for uabolted sides I;
then she arose and disiuherited him.
sam seemed to regard the fountain
OF truth as Stagnant pool, aud him
self an angel whose business it was Is
stay by and trouble the waters.
You know Ben Dean,n said sam
to me one day; "I'm down on that
fellow, and iii tell you why In the
winter of '6S he and | were snaking
together in the mountains north of
the Big Sandy"
what do you mean by shaking,
SAM
"Well, 1 like hatl Why. gather
ing snakes, to be sure-rattlesnakeS
for geological gardens, museums, and
side-shoWs to circuses. This is how
it is done: party Of shakers go up to
the mountains in the early autumn,
with provisions for all winter. and
putting up q snakery at some central
point, get to work as soon as the tor
pid season sets IN, and before there Is
much snow. presume you know
that when the nights begin to get cold
the stakes so in under biz flat stones,
Snuggle together, and lie there frozen
stiff until the warm days of spring
timber them for business. We go
about. raise up the rocks, tie the
worms into convenient bundles and
carry them to the snakery; where,
during the snow season, they are as
sorted, labeled according to quality,
and packed away for transportation,
Sometimes a single Snowman will
have rs many as dozen snakes in the
mountains all winter.
Ben and | were out. one day, and
had gathered 4 few sheavGs of prime
ones, when we discovered 4 broad
stone that showed good indications,
but we couldn't raise it. The whole
upper par; Of the mountain seemed to
be built mostly upon this one stone.
There was nothingtobe done but moleit
dig under, you know; so taking the
spade | soon widened the hole the
creatures had gone in at. until it would |
admit anybody. Crawling in | found |
! kind Of cell in the solid rock, slowed |
nearly full of beautiful serpents, some |
1ftlem as long as aman. You would |
lave reyeled in those worms. They
we're neatly disposed about the sides
If the cave, an even dozen in each
)erth, and some odd ones swinging
rom the ceiling in hammocks, like
ailors. BY the time | had counted
hem roughly, as they lay, it was dapk,
md showing like mischief. There
vas 10 getting back to headquarters
hat night, and there was room for
nut one Of us inside"
"Tuside What, Sam9"
"See here? have you been listening
o what I'm telling YOU, or not.
here is no use telling goN anything,
'erhaps you won't mind waiting till
get done. and then you can tell
Of your own. We drew
Iraws to decide who should sleep in
ide, and it fell to me. Such luck as
bat fellow Ben always had drawing
travis whenI held them! 1t was SIN
ii! But even inside it was' goldfish,
nd | was more than an hour getting
sleep. Towards morning, though, /
woke, feeling very warm and peace
II. The moon was at full, just rising
/ the valley below; and, shining in
the hole I'd entered at, it made
light as day.
"But, Sam, according to ny astron-
my full moon never rises towards
lorning." 4
''Now who said anything about
our astronomy lid like to know