The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1881-06-16
THE SNAKE STORY HAS ARRIVED.
4 sonth American snake Used 10 Corral
Cattle.

81 heard the cunningest snake story over at
Mrs. rs, in San Rafael, the othcrday, Major"
said Mrs. Max, picking out spotlcss baked pO-
tato for the Major.
"Any doubts may have, my DEAR said the
Major, ''regarding the propriety of calling any
snake story cunning yanishes in my eagerness
to hear this one of yours; first remarking that
this mackercl, while properly cooked, seems TO
have been improperly soaked over night, for il is
just triile tough A little more of that butter
gravy, please"
.'You will say it is cunning yourself, when YOU
hear it," resumed Mrs. Max. "Mrs. r was
sitting at her front veranda-you know those
lovely Marshal Mel roses there, MajOr-when
she little bit of robin, just able to fiutter
about, drop out of its nest in a tree, and, imme-
diately afterward, a blacksnake swallow it,"
''The nest or the tree, DEAR"
.'The little robin, Major, of course. Well, she
called her husband-Nlrs. T called her hus-
band, and he caught the snake, which must
have been then something like you after a Sun
day dinner for it could hardly move, and cut il
open, and what do you think p
81 think, my dear, that my coffee cup wants
filling"
"To he sure. Well, the robin, poor little thing,
jumped right out, That amt all. The snake
turned around and swallowed the robin again,
and the robin hoped right out of the place Mr..
T had cut again. Sure, for Mrs. T. showed
Inc the very tree the nest was in. Well, the snake
turned around again and swallowed the robin
once more, ana once more the dear little bird
jumped ont
The Major looked at Mrs. Max a trihe hard,
but not much single doubling word be-
gan:
''IOu have heard speak of my visit to
Brown, who graduated with Inc in -, and went
to South America, married a rich BraZilian's
daughter, and lived ON ranch. | visited him in
81 the summer before | married you, Mrs. Max.
Well, one day he took me ont TO corral where
some of his were branding cattle. ANY OF
those Durham ycarlings brought in yeti" asked
Brown of one of the men. Here is one coming
up the trail now replied the man; and judge OF
my horror when, looking down the trail, l saw
an immense boa constructor crawling towards us.
Twas for making tracks, but Brown said: Hold
on, Max that's my retriever waited, feeling
little queer, confess, until the monster reptile
crawled into the corral and quietly rolled over
on its hack. / noticed then that il looked IN
common poddy. One of the men went up to il
and unbuttOned long slit in its belly, when
out iumped-wlIat do you think, Mrs. Max y
81 think, Major replied Mrs. Max. quite red
in the face, .'tlat that mackerel Was soaked
rather badly"
'Well out jumped lively Durham year
ling as yOu ever saw. eslit WAS buttoned up,
the constructor pattcd on the head, and away il
went again. and pretty soon brought in another
yearling; and while waited there, it brought
i'll no less than -ty-seven."
GLOW many, Major!'
"Why, -ty-seyen. Brown said that his
father-in-law lost no end of yearlinss by boa
constructors every year, and thought the world
of him, Brown since he had trained that one a
a retrievcr."-SdR Francisco Chronicle.