Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-12-31


ing living, but of the unseen spirits
lie had dread. /, too, was taken
.aback. The CHASTITY body of the
wood-cutter was slowly moving to
and fro; the arms and legs occa-
sicnly lifted up, while no agent was
visible. 1t made my blood run cold,
and felt a sensation as if cold wa
ter was pouring slowly down my back
along the spine. I seldom touch
spirits, but take some with me in
case of accidents or need. [ took a
nip myself and gave the two natives
a strong dose each. Still the horri-
BILE contortions continued, and / knew
not what to make of them.
''Did 1 not tell you, Sahib, ?"
whispered Chiniah, chow wrong it
was to sit up over the body of a Him
doc? We should have carried him to
the village and had him burned; but
now we are all dead men; he will
arise presently and kill u.s.
'Hold your tongue, you fool" l
replied "the dead come not to life
again in this world; there is some
trick being played upon u.s.
"Who would venture into these
jungles at this time of night with
those cursed man-eaters about?' said
Chiniah.
II don't know; but keep quiet"
Here jackal came along the ravine
and out into the open, and approach
ed the corpse; but getting within a
few yards, put his tail between his
legs, and, with frightened cry of
the Pheeal, ran for his life.
"Will you believe me now, Sahib 2"
said Chiniah.
| was getting nervous. 1t is a
horrible sight to see body full of
life only few hours before, lying
out in the moonlight, in its last
sleep, and to know that it met its
death by the fell stroke of a tiger.
But the body moved backward its
face before hidden became exposed :;
first one eye opened, then the other,
closing and opening in most diabol-
zeal way. There was not a sound,
and | must own | should have been
glad to have been in my tent, and
never to have seen such sight but,
thank goodness. our suspense was
not to last much longer. My two
followers had succumbed-I believe
they had tainted. Watching intent
ly, [ saw glide across the chest of
the dead the head of an immense
rock snake. 1t was wider than a
large plate across, and its tongue
was licking the corpse all over. The
movement of the limbs and the open
ing and shutting of the eyes were
fully explained. My feeling of hor-
ror disappeared, and | watched the
| beasts every movement. Digging
my penknife into Chiniah, | made
him almost spring off the machan.
After staring like a madman for
awhile he perceived the python, and
was, if possible in a greater panic.
"He is thirty cubits long," he utter
ed, "and will swallow the wood-cut-
ter first and us afterward." l gave
a silent laugh, and pointed to the
rifles. The movements of the snake
were inaudible, but we could see the
disgusting process of covering the
body with saliva, and after fully two
hours, he opened his horrld jaws and
began to swallow the body head fore
most. Now a python's teeth are so
arranged that once anything enters
his month it can not be elected again.
Gradually the head and neck disap-
peared, then the shoulders and up to
the waist, when there was a terrific
roar. A tiger sprang from a cover
right on to the python, seizing him
by the back of the neck.
| have no doubt that death was in
Simultaneous, as far as the snake was
concerned, but his huge body, in cir
cumference equaling mans, and
nearly thirty feet long, in convulsive
movements, wound round the tiger,
and we could hear the bones being
crushed one after the other. The
roar the tiger gave at the first squeeze
was APPALLING; but in few moments
the roars turned into means, the
means into a gurgling sound, and
gradually they, too, ceased, while the
contortions of the snake continued
for over an hour. [ never saw such
frightful sight. What is man OF
his strength compared to that of
either of the beasts lying dead before
us? We were speechless with horror
and surprise at the denouement. and
at the amazing strength of morl-
bund snake. All signs of life ceas-
ed, and we had dozed for awhile,
when we were awakened by the noise
of tearing of flesh.
Peeping over our leafy panoply.
there was a tiger, or tigress making q
meal off either the snake, its OWL
kind or the dead man. The moor
was under cloud, so / waited pa.
tiently until it shone again, and ther
aiming as well as / could from the
shoulder, / fred both barrels, anC
the tigress, for such she proved, roll.
ed over and over, growing ant
roaring, and at last crawled into the
ravine, whence we could hear hel