Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-11-15
PUDGEEN SEES A HOOPLE
SNAKE.
His Life Saved supernsturally When
His Last Hope has Fled.
From, the Ne,0 York Sun.

From the Ne,o York Sun.
! There was juicy attractiveness in the
red artificial berries ornamentlng Mrs.
| O'Brien's straw hat, which arrested the
critical attention or Mickey Finn's tame
crow as he sat on the mantel. He had
tasted Just such berries as those seemed
| to be in his very early youth, when they
| had been inserted into his wideopen, eager
mouth by maternal beak. With quiet,
anticipatorv cav, he jumped down upon
/ the stove, then upon the floor, and with
! the help of chair reached the table upon
/ which lay the hat. He had stolen two Of
I the berries from the miniature garden, and
was Juggling at a third with his feet braced
against the crown OF the hat, when Mrs.
| O'Brien cried out:
"OIusha. Biddy; lux at that black
divup
Then Mrs. O'Brien seized the hat and
Mrs. Finn the crow. They both pulled.
The crow secured the berry, but with
! two-inch wire attachment, which caused
1t to lodge in the crows throat. The crow
beat his wings wildly, and tried in vain
to utter protest.
'Shake him by th' tall" said Mrs.
O'Brien.
Mrs. Finn shook him until the tail
/ feathers came out in her hand, and the
/ crow lay struggling upon the table. Fer
| tile in eXpedIent Mrs. O'Brien said:
''Glt button nook, Biddy."
While Mrs. Finn held the crows mouth
1 open, Mrs. O'Brien, with the button hook.
deftly ished the berry and wire out OF the
crows neck. The crow uttered detected
crOak, and walked under the bed, whence
an occasional hOarse cav interrupted Mrs.
OBrien's story Of the Dooian bali on the
previoIs evening. Little Mickey had
been shooting tirecrackers in the yard, but
| hearing the cOmmotiOn in the house he
came in. Having satisfied himself that
the crow would live, he became interested
in Mrs. O'Brien's recital
wv nat music had tbey?" asked Mrs.
Finn.
They had the Coogan orchestra
| Patsey COOgan an his cord on. Y'll
mind, Bddy, Patsey can play wild his
two hands. There's ne'er another on
| COObey Island can do that same, an the
! iftiu' airs he pulled out o. that Gordon
'ud make your hair curl. He has a new
! song he plays and sings. He med the
songs all alone widout any one helpin'
| him. He calls it "Fhe mule that carted
the bricks away TIL last two lines is:
From airlv mornin till close of day
The mule he carted tn bricks away
"Jist whn thu mirth was tn merriest
an tn dancers was bObbin' around like
| potatys in blPn' wather, tn orchestry
stopped playin'.
f'Arrah, 90 wan, Patsey, what's the
matthel wild ye? KEN from all parts Of
tn room.
"'Axin' yer pardon, ladies an gintle-
min, but l can't go wan. l have pain in
me leg.'
'''Whioh leg, Patsey?" says Mrs. Fog
arty.
'''This wan" says he. An thin they
all roared wild laughter, for Patsey had
! pointed to his wooden leg. WhIn the
Iaughin' had stopped Patsey took off his
wooden leg at the knee, and held it up so
that livery wan could see it.
''Yez kin all laugh says he, but if
We had happen to yer legs what l had
happen my wooden leg tn day, yez 'ud
be far on yer way to purgatOrY,"
From the kitchen Mrs. Finn detected
the sound of clinking crOckery. A mo-
ment later she led Mickey back into the
room by the ear. There was blush upon
the boys face, and few grains of sugar
on his lips. Mrs. OBrien resumed her
story:
''ln tn bulge o. the wooden leg was a
hole like as If ye'd drive tn ind o. the
/ poker in tn iure, am CoOgan said tn
hole WAS made by tn tail of hoople
snake. Did ye liver hear tn likes o. that?
1e know, Biddy, CoOgan an Fogartv
have pOtaty patch out tOrninst DivPs
Lake. COOgan said he was out thare
pickln' potaty bugs Yesterday. an a
hOOple snake as big as a cart wheel KEN
rOllin' out o. tn bushes an struck him in
the leg. Besides. he says Fogarity was
out thare this day week, an tn same
snake KEN rollin' down bechune two rows
of potatys. Whin FOgarty stuck out tn
hoe hasdle, tn snake stuck his tail Until
it., an tn hoe handle swelled up an
| busted, and Coogan said ne was ateerd th'
leg 'ud split like tn hoe handle, an he
| would have buy a new Wan.0
While the two women were discussing
the veracitY of Mr.. COogan, the door open
ed and the schOOlmaster stepped in. Coo
| gan's wonderful story was told to him.
He was inclined to doubt the part Of the
story which referred to the hOehandle.
but as to the existence of hoop snakes he
had no doubts, and confirmed his belief
by story to which Mickey and the two
women listened with establishment:
ITS near fifteen year ago the comm
blac kberryin' whin this story happened
that Pm tellin' yez. There wasn't as
many houses on COoney island thin as
there are now an Stumpy field was a
great place for blackberries. One after
noon three b'ys that wint Z my school
played hOoky, and whit out in the direc-
ton Of Devils Lake after blackberries.
they took a gun along, an as they wintup
the slant OF Stumpy field they were sing
in:
AN whin he's out a-rolin'
Wen shoot him in the tail;
Wen jerk the jacket of him,