The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1874-05-15

little thing of nine months old was ly-
ing !; and my heart seemed to be turn
ing to ice as I saw nestled i'll the foot OF
the cradle, partly hiddeni in the blanket,
with some of its horrible coils in full
sight, and its head resting Hpon them,
the largest snake l had seen since l had
been in the country. The feeling was
something awful, and L stood there for
a few moments leaning upon the round
handle of the hoe I had caught up, not
able to move, for my eyes were fixed
upon the head of hat hideous beast,
and 1 expected every moment that the
baby would wake and make some move
ment sufficient to ~irritate the snake,
and then 1 felt that the little thing must
die.
What shouldIdo Iaskedmyself asthe
horrible feeling of helplessness wore of.
If I crept in and reached the cradle side
uaheard, I dared not chop at the beast
for fear of iniuring the child, for l
could see that some of the folds lay
right across it. / dared not make a
noise, lest the next moment the child
should wake a well as the reptile, for 1
knew the rapidity with which the reptile
could wreathe fold after fold around the
object it attacked; while, if of a
poisonous nature, they strike in an in
staZt. Thoughts came swiftly enough,
but they were uuavailing; for to wait
till the baby woke, or to go in and at
tack the snake, seemed equally danger
Gus Even if / made a slight noise the
danger seemed as great, since, though
the snake might wake first and glide
off, the probabilities were just as great
that the child might wake at the same
time.
And so / turned over the chances
again and again my eyes all the while
fixed uSon the two sleeping occupants
of the cradle, whose pleasant warmth
had evidently attracted the reptile.
81 went in and saw it there" whis-
pered my wife, and then, without taking
my eyes for an instant from the snake.
l whispered the n word "gun," and
she glided from my side.
l didnot know then, but she told me
afterward, how she had carried the little
boy to q distance and given him some
to play with, while she crept
back to the hut, and reaching in at the
kitchen window, brought me my gun,
1 had not stirred. And now, as l
yrasped the piece in my hand, knowing
IS l did that it was loaded, it seemed of
no use, for / dare not fire but with
trembling hands, 1 felt in my pockets to
see if there was a bullet in them, and
hen softly pulling out the ramrod, /
the piece and let the shot
pattering out, when l softly forced
Town the bnllet uponthe powder, examin-
ID the cap and stood ready waiting for a
nance /; for l thought that .he shot
night have scattered, and if ever so
title, might have injured the child in
'tead OF its enemy.
And there We stood for quite half an
lour, watching intently that horrible
BEAST completely nestled in the blanket,
Expecting ~momentarily that the baby
Tould awake, while my hand trembled
o that l could not hold the gun steady.
)ne minute | was thinking that l had
lone wrong i'll changing the charge, the
lext minute that | was right, then l
ancied the gun might miss fire, or that
might Stay my own child. A hundred
horrible thoughts entered my mind be-
ore little Joe began to cry out to his
and she glided away while l
nuttered to myself, "Thank Heaven !"
or she was spared from seeing what
ollowed.
AS if at one and the same moment,
he child and the snake woke up. Isaw
he baby's hand move, and it's little
rms thrown out, while from the motion
beneath the blanket l knew that 1t must
ave kicked a little. Then there was a
apid movement in the cradle, and as /
along the gun-barrel, taking
i'm, there was the whole of the horrible
eptile exposed to view, coil gliding on
oal, as if seemed to fill the whole
had my gun been charged with
hot / should have fired, so as to have
disabled some parts of its body ; but