Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-09-11

to be removed from Annoy; and he dis
| cussed the chances of favorable re-
/ ply to his letter nationally enough,
! though with disregard 4. the be-
reavement that / in that case should
suffer which puzzled me. For he was
naturally the most unselfish of men,
/ and he had over and over again said he
would never leave Annoy without me,
! and that he would never be left in it if
/ | was appointed vice consul elscwi e
Towards sunset he became excited. |
| did not like the metallic glitter in his
! eve 1t recalled to me in an ugly man.
! ner a certain visit 1 had paid to a Chi
nese madhouse a little time previously.
He was irritable, moreover, and would
not let me touch his pulse. When l
wanted him to come into the hut for
the night he objected.
NO, Randolph" he said, mot till
the moon there also goes to bed in the
antipodes I particularly mean to be
awake tonight"
"Why?" | asked.
Because / am as sure as / stand
| here that / saw one last night, and it
was when the moon was high. / reckon
| it went at about the rate of yard a
| minute. l mean to secure it, and
should very much like to photograph it
before nabbing it.
''What are you talking about, old
! chap" 1 asked again, with the dismal
| fear at my heart that the fever or sun
stroke had affected his brain.
''The creeping plant, Randolph. 1t
was, as well as could guess at it, nine
feet long, with flowers all the way along
1.-THE calyx bright blue. l never
saw anything SO odd since l was born.
Do you know, almost lost my senses
| in a sort of excitement over it, and /
suppose it got away in the meantime,
| for when l tried to find it again 1
couldn'tr'
/ could only stare at him in bewilder-
ment He was certainly not joking,
and yet the idea of plant of this de-
scription was to my unobservant intel
ligence perfectly ridiculous.
But poor Hammond did not like my
| incredulous look. ''You don't believe
me, l seer he exclaimed pettishly.
4 "That's ever the way with you prac-
teal fellows. l am thankful I'm not
practical. Anyhow, too, l mean to get
it this night, alive or dead-thats n
clear thing"
mo, no; please, don't think of it, 1
entreated "Wait till you're bit
stronger, and then if you like we'll do
nothing else but hunt this crawling
| beanstalk, or whatever it is
81 am as strong as ever l was, if I
may judge by my feelings, and so you
may as well make up your mind to my
going. Remember, Randolph, that I'm
your senior in the service. and won't
put up with dictation from you or any
! other man of your time of life"
1 could only shrug my shoulders, and
suggest to him as casually as possible
that of course I had no right to inter
fere with his movements, but that for
his own sake he ought not to go off in
"pyjamas" again, as he did before.
"Yes, that was indiscreet," the dear
old fellow observed, with smile.
We humored him for the rest of the
| evening, and at length he fell asleep in
| his bamboo couch-chair, and we COW
| cred him lightly and arranged the mos
| quito curtains to protect him as much
| as possible.
But had no intention of going to
| bed. Somehow or other, 1 fancied he
| would wake and start off into the
woods, just as he had done before. AT
the back of my mind l confess, too,
there was thin phantom of curiosity
about the shape nine feet long, with
| flowers upon it, which had fitted so
| well with Hammond's ideal of creep
ing plant.
Accordingly, lit my pipe and read
| the North China Herald until began
| to feel drowsy. The paper had dropped
| from my hands, and l was pondering
weakly about the likelihood of some
l.c,od-natured senior fns the service re
| solving to retire or to die for the good
| of his juniors, when heard rustling
My eyes opened sharply. Yes; 1T was
as, with electrical promptitude, had
surmised: Hammond was bolt upright,
staring at the moonlight outside and
pushing the curtains away from him.
/ did not move, but watched him be-
tween my half-closed eyelids.
Consciousness seemed to come upon
him all in moment He bounded
| from the chair and made for the dOor.
Then, with a look / shall never forget,
he turned back and snatched up the
same blue blanket l had wrapped him
in before He flung it over his shoul-
| ders and sped into the open. 1 followed
| him. And l had to be brisk, or else
| should have soon lost sight of him; for
| the dark limbs of the trees were thick
| enough to hide him for a quarter of a
minute at time. 1t was strange
chase, this in the murmurous night,
with ever and anon the startling cry
from parrot or n monkey resounding
in the air. A barred tail pheasant shot
over my head with Il vhir that would
have made man unused to such noises
wonder what was happening. Bats
too, went to and fro in the moonlight
now and then eclipsing the planet COM
pletely.
I don't know how long 1 followed
the poor fellow; l knew only that 1
was much torn by the thorns on the
rose bushes which i-npeded my move
ments. How sweet was the perfume
of these blossoms il the cool, humid
night air I can recall at this moment
distinctly.
1t was almost by accident that I at
length came upon Hammond. He was
STOPPING and peering here and there
about small spot of common grass
with holes in the ground and Il thicket
of bramble and clematis at one side. I
did not notice it at first; but there was
woof of passion flowers hanging from
one of the boughs of u tree Just over
him One of the flowers was superb
specimen with dazzling corolla.
Standing in the shade watched him.
He began to poke among the brambles
with a bit of stick. Then there was
movement, and with an exclamation of
"Did I not say SOP Hammond stepped
tenderly aside while-a great snake
crept forth with an angry hiss and a
poise of its head / had time to see
that its body from the shoulder was
beautifully marked much as Hammond
had described his plant; but time for
no more. The poor fellow had bent
down and made snatch at the reptile;
at the same instant the snake had
darted at him and bitten him over the
eye. And when / had rushed to the
place the snake had gone, and Ham
mond was holding both hands to his
face and looking about him with an
awfully dazed expression. The shock
had brought him wholly to his right
mind!
On our way back he commented on
his folly as if it had been the action of
some one else. But the pain of the