Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-10-11

could be actually the work of human
hands. Flocks of wild fowl, with
| white wings and shrill scream, how
cred above the swarm of gorgeousIy.
tinted fish that swan around the
huge weed-beds, while here and
there among the red lotus blossoms
appeard what might have been east
ly mistaken for floating log, but
which / knew TO be an alligator,
drowsily basking in the glad SUM-
shine.
The heavy heat seemed to render
exertion, even for the natives, diff
cult, for l saw no fisher, as usual,
padding his light canoe or preparing
his tough nets of cocoanut fiber; and
the very Cingalese woodcutters had
deserted their wood, leaving behind
them great heap of hewn timber,
In front of which, imhedded In the
spongy wood of cypress, four or
five short, bright axes remained
sticking. Some few PAGES from this
heap was the ruinous summer-house:
and beyond it there lowered aloft
the giant TALBOT tree, with its vast
serrated leaves, that serve the
Cingalese for sail and thatch aud
screen, beneath which Oswald and I
| ware accustomed to meet.
To my surprise, and perhaps cha
grin, / did not at first see him for
whom looked, and began to fear
that he had forgotten to keep his
wonted tryst; button drawing nearer
/ beheld sight that for the moment
froze my very veins with horror, and
caused the cry of anguish that rose
to my lips to dye away. Oswald,
lying on the turf among the roots of
the gigantic palm tree, seemed to be
asleep, overcome, probably, by the
unusual heat, while around him was
loosely coiled something that resem-
bled stout rope, curionsly streaked
with black, and orange, and white
something that caused the withered
leaves and crisp grass to rustic, as it
stirred, writhing.
/ had never seen a living tic
palunga, but i knew at the first
glance that the snake before my
eyes was no other than large speci,
men Of that dreaded reptile, which
In Ceylon takes the position that in
Continental India belongs to the
cobra, for the bite Of which there is
no known remedy. Twice within
the last three years, laborers on my
fathers plantation had been brought
in, dying, from the venom of the tic
palunga, but in each instance the
skill of the native snake-charmers
had led to the capture of the rep
tile, and it was not believed that any
of this species, rare as well as dan
gerous, had been left alive in our
immediate neighborhood. This,
however, was unquestionably a tic
palunga, many feet long, and it had
wrapped its coils, rs though in hide
Gus sport, around Oswald's limbs as
he lay there, unconscious.
The great fiat head of the enor-
nous snake rested on the ground,
among the flowers and ferns. /
could see its eyes, bright as jewels,
fixed upon me. 1t showed for the
moment, however, no particular
sign of anger or of distrust, but con-
tent itself with quietly contempla-
ting the intruder upon its haunts.
AS ! stood, gazing on my sleeping
lover and the monstrous creature
that lay wakeful but quiescent, so
near to him, all the stories of snakes
that / had ever heard or read came
crowding in upon my quickeued
memory. L knew that the tic
palunga, in common with most of
the venomous varieties of its race,
seldom employed its poison-fangs
unless when attacked or annoyed;
but 1 also knew that the hardest
elephant-hunter of the forests would
sooner confront the charge Of herd
of incensed tuskers, than face the
lance-like dart and rancourous bite
of this dread denizen of the Jungle.
The tic palunga, unlike the boa
and the python, rarely, ifever, preys
upon the larger animals, such as
deer or cattle, confined its diet, for
the most part, 10 birds, frogs and
lizards. Some caprice, most likely,
had caused.it to Irvine a part Of its
supple convolutions around Oswald
as he lay, and so long as he remain
ed asleep and motionless, there was
little probability that the serpent
would harm him. My great fear
was lest he should awake, and In
awakening, by some hasty move
ment, arouse the ire Of the resistless
foe. Oswald was brave and strong,
but 10 was mockery to speak Of
strength or courage when so terrible
an antagonist was in question.
Suddenly, as If ii mad been whis-
per from heaven, there CAME into my
mind thought that promised hope,
even In that dire extremity of need.
1 had often seen harmless snakes
kept tame in colonial households,
and was aware Of their habits, and
+! their love for certain kinds of food,
and above all, for milk. Could /
but bring to that spot a supply Of
milk, and place 1t, before Oswald
should awake, temptingly near to