Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1889-04-04

Instances are not uncommon Of men
who have displayed remarkable cour-
age and fsarIsssnsss, and have faced
even death itsslf. until eli danger was
past. and then have broken down ut
terly, and been - cowardly a. chill
dren ever after.
A writer for the New York Sun
gives shrilling incident Of this kind,
which happened in India. On one Of
his many trips up the Little Rangoon
river. he camped one night with .
party Of British officers who were ont
on . hunt. The leader Of the party,
and the best shot and bravest man in
it, was Major Curtis. q man about for
ty years Of age.
He had killed more wild animals
than any other white man in the pro.
vince. Armed only with q revolver.
he had entered the bungalow where
murderer was concealed, and taken
him away from a crowd Of his friends,
and delivered him up to justice.
He had swan the river amid the
alligators, and he would stand for the
rush of tiger or the spring Of pam
ther with laugh on his lips. They
said the major did not know what
fear was. He. perhaps. thought so
himself.
The camp was on the bank Of the
river, and only temporary one. and
no tents or covers had besn erected.
We sat around the fires until late
hour and when we rolled ourselves mp
to sleep the Major and I were orly
about four feet apart. with nothing
between us. The camp grew silent at
once and everybody was coon sound
asleep.
I was just dozing of when I Thought
/ detected the crawl Of snake near
me. but after listening closely q min
ute. I concluded it was lizzard or
an insect. The air, the earth, the for.
ests, the waters Of India are full of an.
imal life BY day and BY night.
A camp no sooner grows quiet that
wild rats and mice. lixzar9s, great
beetles and three or four kinds of
squirrels begin to prospect around,
while night birds circle about, and the
wolf, the jackal, hyena and other ami
mails draw near. Snakes are always
to be feared, but if one started up at
every suspicious sound he would new
er get an hours sleep.
Daylight was just coming when ]
opened my eyes. was on my left
side, turned toward the Major, and I
noticed that he was on his back. Close
beside me was Q revolver, wuich I
had slipped out Of his holster the
night before that I might have it ham
dy in case of need.
Not another soul in camp was yet
awake 90 far a. / knew, and / lay liz.
tenipg to the noises in the surround.
ing forest while daylight continued te
grow stronger. ! was about to arise.
when / suddenly saw the head of
a serpent lift itself above the Majors
breast and wave to and fro.
/ shat my eyes for few seconds
and then opened them to see the same
sight again. / even tried it again and
again, fearful that was doing, and
u ot wishing to believe what ! plainly
saw.
1t certainly was the head of ven.
ormous serpent. species closely re.
sembling the American black snake.
and as deadly as any serpent in India.
It waved its head and darted its
tongue for . moment. and then settled
back into . coil.
As soon as his head went down /
felt for my revolver and drew back
the hammer. The click, click, alarm.
ed the snake, a. ! knew it would, but
by the time be had elevated his head
again ] had my arm outstretcbed and
the muzzle of my revolver within two
feet of him.
Il was Q snapshot and had to be
made on the instant, and it was by
pure good luck that ] sent bullet
through his ugly head. He was vrith-
ing and Topping about Isl sprang
up. and was dead as I bent over the
Major. j
The snake had crept out of the
bushes snd upon the Majors breast
early in the night. Il was not more
than midnight when he swoke and
found the serpent coiled up. and be
knew that any movement on his part
would result in certain death. For
three hours and half be rested ON
the broad Of his back, never moving .
muscle. with his eyes vide open. and
that serpent's head part Of the time
waving to and fro within ak inches