The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-10-19

very act, slight as it may seem, was NJ
, small compliment, for it was doubles!
his own drinking cup that Lall Singh
was giving me, and should any lip No
belonging to one of pure Hindu descent
touch its Furnished rim, it would here
after be unfit for use. However, ]
, scarcely waited to utter word Of
, thanks, but snatched up the brass lots
, and darted out.
1t may be thought singular that | had
!, not given the alarm to the household al
Mr.. Forster's plantation; but had re-
solved that l would not, if I could do
my errand unqucstioned, create tur-
mol which might bring about the very
evil against which / was striving, Os-
wald's mother and sisters loved him,
but their nerves were not the strongest,
and their outcries, had they heard the
news, would have had the effect OF
summoning a score of servants and
coolies, and to seal Oswald's fate by
sending noisy posse of volunteers to
the place where he lay at the snake s
mercy.
As if on winged feet, yet carrying
the precious draught of milk with ieal-
Gus care, hurried back to the spot
where, at the foot of the huge talipot-
tree, lay Oswald, yet asleep. The
snake, however, as though uneasy, was
beginning to stir. Its monstrous head
wagged slowly from side to side among
the white wild flowers, and its slender
tongue pretruded from between its
grim jaws. But was in time, and as
| poured the milk, or rather portion
of it, On the ground, so that long trail
should lead to the spot where | set
down the brass drinking-cup, with what
of its contents remained, | was careful
to avoid, by any abrupt gesture, incens-
ing the tic palunga.
Then came minute or two of a on
lied expectancy, and then, to my great
JOY, saw the reptile slowly uncoil him
self, evidently making for the milk.
First one wreath and then another of
the snakes timber length was untwined,
and the great serpent, brushing through
the forest grass and fowerets, stopped
its broad head to drink. As [ saw Os-
wald thus freed, and the unsuspected
foe draw farther and father away from
the place where he reposed, felt the
strength which had hitherto supported
me suddenly become weakness. My
nerves being no longer braced by the
sense of Oswald's mortal peril, the in
stinctive terror and disgust which had
| from childhood felt for the serpent
tribe overpowered me, and l
grew giddy and weak, and could scarce
| ly stand and scarcely see.
What xryoc +bic haforo INV dim ox-oS .
The well known porch of the Dutch col
onist's summer-house overgrown by
trailing creepers, and all but choked by
tall weeds. Mechanically 1 entered,
and, sinking down on moldering
wooden seat, once decked with silken
cushions and gold-leaf, | gradually re-
gained the physical strength which had
deserted me, and with it the capacity
for thought. 1t is curious how, in such
cases of exhaustion, the benumbed mind
slowly resumes some abandoned train
of thought, and thus it was with me.
BY degrees l remembered Oswald's
danger, my own efforts to save him,
and
What was that rustling among the
stems and leaves and buds of the luXu-
RANT plants that festOoned the shatter-
ed windows of the summer-house in all
the rank profusion of their tropical
growth? Sureiy-surely not the rip
ping, undulating motion with which a
huge snake drags himself through the
brake and jungle grass! Yes; my
fears were but too true, for there, in the
open window space-the broken trellis-
work of which had been replaced by
wild vines and dangling orchids-ap-
above the ground, the hideous head of
the serpent that had lately menaced Os-
wald and now confronted me.
And then it flashed upon me that this
deserted kiosk was probably the rep
tiles actual home, and that, as though
in the very irony of terror, | had ven
tured to intrude into the lair of the ter
rible creature from the sight of which |
had-once that Oswald's safety seemed
assured-reeled dizzily away. | had
often heard of the strange taste which
snakes evince for an abandoned human
dwelling, and how frequently they
haunt the outbuildings of Europeans
abOdes and the huts of the natives, and
yet here had rashly strayed into the
lurking place of the deadliest guardian
of the Ceylon Jungle.
That the snake was perturbed there
could be no doubt. 1t curved its grace
full neck like that of a swan, and Kissed
Slightly, while its broad jaws were
partly opened. | fancied that | could
see the curved poison fangs-more to be
dreaded than ever was Malay creese or
Moorish dagger-while the jewel bright
ewes glittered ominously. One wild,
piercing shrek | could not repress; and
then the futility of resistance or of flight
forced itself upon me, and stood, mo-
tionless as a marble statue of embodied
fear, gazing at the emeraldine eyes
/ fixed with so pitiless a stare on mine.
The subtle, suffocating odor which large
scrpents eXhale, when angry, reached
me; but already gave myself up for
lost, and waited passive till the tic pa
! lunga should make his fatal dart.
The sib:lant noise from the snakes
half-shut jaws had grown louder, and
the bright, baleful eyes more menacing,
while the grim head lowered aloft,
ready to strike, when suddenly some
thing bright flashed through the flow
ering bines of the creeping plant, and
the snakes hideous head and 1.-THE body
disappeared as if by magic. Then fol-
| lowed the sounds of a fierce struggle,
repeated blows, trampling feet, and
swapping boughs, and the accents of
human voices; and then Oswald came
leaping through the doorway, clasped
me in his arms, and bore me out into
the broad light of day, where lay
writhing yet-the carcass of the snake,
hewn through by the sharp-cutting axe
which Oswald still grasped in his right
/ hand.
Shabash!" exclaimed Lan Singh,
whose swarthy face cleaned with de-
light as he spurned the body of the
vanquished reptile. sit was well that
the first blow went home, or it would
l.. ye Jared but badly with the young
sahib when this accursed slayer of men
turned on him. Wsh! I'd sooner have
faced q tiger"
To Lall Singh l was in no slight de-
gree indebted for my safety. Con-
WINGED, from the agitation of my man.
ner, that something was wrong, he fol-
lowed me, and was in the act of arous-
ing Oswald from his slumber when the