American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-05-02
THE BABY'S PERIL.

HARRY" she gasped, in strange
harsh, cracked voice; and, as 1 s:artet
and looked up from my work, there wa
my wife coming toward me, with he
arms stretched out, her eyes fixed and .
horrible, CHASTITY look upon her white face
that made me drop my spade and run Il
meet her. caught her just as she wa
falling, when her eyes closed and she CAV,
a shiver that seemed to shake her Who'll,
body.
This was soon after we had settled on
in the up country, and there was only an
other hut here and there in those days
but, after years of knocking about at home
trying to get an honest living and nevel
succeeding, we had to make up our minds
to try Australia, and here we were, living
in a log hut had put together for my
self, shepherding and doing what little l
could in the shape of gardening, for thai
being my right trade, with all the beauti-
full rich soil lying fallow, it did seem a
sin not to have a turn at it; so, getting
what seeds 1 could from Sydney, and add
ing to the few had in my chest, man.
aged to make quite a little Eden of the
bit of land l broke up around our hut
We were not saving money, not to any ex.
and no rent to pay, lots of vegetables OF
our own planting, and not costing any.
thing, plenty of work to do, and, one
sort and another, always plenty to
eat; SO that after what we had
gone through in England, you may be
sure we were willing 10 put up with such
inconvenience as fell to our share, and,
as matter of course, there were things
to encounter out there in what some peO-
pie would call wilderness, though it was
a wilderness that blOssomed like q rose.
-xrvI,A Il
of the blacks, who had some very queer
things here and there about; then the
place was terribly lonely, and out of the
way if you wanted a doctor; and Mary
used to joke me because l never could
get pint of beer, but / found l could
get on Just as well without it, and, my
word, what capital cup of tea we had
out there.
Well, Mary came out to me that day
looking SO horribly CHASTITY that, being
naturally too fast at fancying troubles in
blacks coming to spear us, and some of
them knocking out the children's brains
with their clubs-and not the first time
either-but in few moments the poor
girl opened her eyes and began to stare
about her. There were no blacks to be
seen. Little Joe was sitting in the path
playing, and, though l look ed along the
edge OF the wood behind the house, I
could see no signs of danger; so L began
to see she must have been taken ill, and
turned over in my own mind how l
should get help for her.
Just then her face grew contracted
again as her thoughts seemed to go back,
and, gasping once mora, Harry, Harry"
she gave another shudder and said, The
baby-a snake"
could not see myself, but 1 know l
turned pale, all the blood seeming to rush
to my heart, for if there is anything
which am afraid it is a snake, even
going so far as to dislike cells, of which
there were plenty in the river, close at
hand.
don't know how we got there, but the
next thing remember is standing at the
hut window, with Mary holding little
Joe tight in her arms, and me looking
through at the cradle where our little
thing of nine months old was lying; and
my heart seemed to be turning to ice as L
saw nestled in the foot of the cradle, partly
hidden in the blanket, and with some
its horrible coils in full sight, and its
head resting upon them, the largest snake
l had seen since l had been in the coun-
try. The feeling was somewhat awful,
and stood there for few minutes lean
ing upon the round handle of the hoe l
had caught up, not able to move, for my
eyes were fixed upon the head of that hid
eous beast, and l expected every moment
that the baby would wake and make some
movement sufficient to irritate the snake,
and then l felt that the little thing
must die.
What should dor asked myself as
the horrible feeling of helplessness wore
off. If crept in and reached the cradle
side unheard, dared not chop at the
beast for fear of injuring 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
as well as the reptile, for / knew the "a
pidity with which the reptiles could
wreathe fold after fold around the object
they attacked; while if of poisonous
nature they strike in an instant. Thoughts
came swiftly enough, but they were una
vailing, for to wait till the baby woke, or
to go in and attack the snake, seemed
equally dangerous. Even if l made a
slight noise the danger seemed as great
since, though the snake might wake first
and glide OFT, 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
upon the two sleeping occupants of the
cradle, whose pleasant warmth had evil
=" went in and saw it there whispered
my wife and then, without taking my eyes
for an instant from the snake, l whispered
the one word gum" and she glided from
my side.
I did not know then, but she told me
afterward, how she had carried the little
boy to distance and given him some
flowers to play with while she crept back
to the hut, and reaching in at the kitchen
window brought me my gun, for / had
not stirred. And now, as l grasped the
piece in my hand, knowing as did that
1t was loaded, it seemed of no use, for
dared not fire; ut with trembling hands
l felt in my pockets to see if there was a
bullet in them, and then, softly pulling
out the ramrof, l unscrewed the cover of
the worm, drew the wadding. reversed the
piece and let the shot fall pattering out
when l softly forced down the bullet upon
the powder, examined the cap and stood
ready, waiting for a chance; for thought
that the shot might have scattered, and if
ever so little might have injured the
child instead of its enemy.
And there we stood for quite half an
hour, watching intently that horrible
beast completely nestled in the blanket,
expecting momentarily that the baby
would awake, while my hand trembled so
that could not hold the gun steady. One
minute was thinking that l had done
wrong in changing the charge, the next
minute that / was right, then l fancied
the gun might miss fire. or that l might
Stay my own child A hundred horrible
thDuphts entered NV mind before little