Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1891-04-10
IN THE COUSOFA
AWFUL EFFECT OF A HUSBANDS
ATTEMPT AT DISCIPLINE,

Eroom's Foofishness in Trifing with
His Wife's Dread and Fear of Serpents.
Rufus Hoyt, of New York city, is per-
haps one of the most widely travelled COM
mercial men of that city, representing, as
he does, some of the largest iron manu- |
featuring industries in the United States.
of everything that t~ranspires |
about him, he has a stock of anecdotes |
large enough to fill a volume as volumi- |
nous as a labor commissioners report. Ac- |
costing a representative of the Globe, he
said:
"Do you see that gray haired man over |
there?" pointing as he spoke.to a tall, sun
in one of the benches.
ellis nnme," continued the New Yorker, |
sis Bertram Smith. He is Il Brazilian by
everything but birth, having lived there
almost all his life, and it was there that |
met him eight years ago. He owned a vast
tract of land in the Amazon valley, near the
base of the Andes, and had the sweetest little
girl for a wife that mortal man could wish
for. Smith was prospecting for all sorts
OF mineral on his property there, and I
sold him q lot of machinery that was never
delivered. I'll tell you why.
"When I WAS down at their place Smith
and his wife had just returned from the
honeymoon. He worshiped the very ground
the girl trod, and she in turn was as de-
voted rs ever woman can be. The house
they lived in was a one story affair, not
pretty to look at externally, except that it
covered by creeping plants, but plenty
of room and the essence of prettiness and
comfort within,
A FOOLISH PERFORMANCE.
Mrs. Smith came from Rio Juneiro.
She had a mortal horror of snakes, and her
husband used to joke her about it. Now
that country is full of snakes, boa con-
strictors thirty feet long and as thick Us
sandflies. There was a garden about five
acres in extent about the place, and here it
was that the bride of a few months used to
get her outdoor exercise. except when ac-
eompanied by her husband, at which time,
Ibelieve, she would have faced all the cobras
in the country. The prospecting works
were about three miles from the house, and
one morning Smith started for there on
horseback.
"He had a rifle with him. On his way
home he saw a sixteen foot boa wind it's
einuous way across the wagon road. The
hideous head was raised for an instant, and
the beadlike eyes glared at the intruder;
thenext instant a bullet had found it's way
to the reptiles brain. and with Il few con-
WILSON'S of its Shiny body the python was
dead. Being only about three-quarters of.
mile from the house, Smith determined to
try effect the dead boa would have in
quoting his wife's fears.
HE made fast his hitching rein to the
snakes neck and dragged it through the
gates into the garden. Then he went into
the house and old Mrs. Smith about it
She implored him to have it removed, and
at last he consented. Then, fearing she
would lose prestige in his eyes by an exhi-
bition Of cowardice, she said:
81 want the awful thing taken out of
the garden, but to show you I am not afraid
OF it | will go out there alone and inspect
the remains
TRYING TO PLEASE.
"He scarcely expected she would do it.
The dusk was falling and the bushes in the
garden began to cast grewsome shadows
about them. The girl was game, though.
She got a little pearl handled revolver from
a drawer, threw a summer shawl over her
head and went out.
"If you hear me shoot, she said, you
will know that the boa has come to life,
and l shall expect you to rescue me- Then
she threw him a smile and a kiss and was
o
Smith didn't like to discourage her, but
he wished he hadn't suggested the thing.
He sat there writing, but every breath of
wind seemed as it blew through the open
windows to bring with it a whisper of i'm
pending evil. He tried to laugh at his
fears, but they would recur in spite of him.
Suddenly a pistol shot rang out on the
ati11 air Ho eft rt OIL xx,;l11y eo;poJ IL, -:ao
and made for the door. Then he laughed
at himself. OF course she had fired the
shot to brighten him. What possible harm
could come to her in the garden with a
seven foot palisade about it? Pshawl and
he sat down again, but he kept his rifle in
his hand and listened.
"Why didn't she return? Surely it was
time. Then he thought he heard a scream,
and at last, in a frenzy of doubt, he burst
through the doors and went in search of
her:
Through the bushes he ran, calling her
name at every step. There was no answer
save the signing of the wind through the
cassia trees. On he sped. with a horrible
fear in his heart. 1t had become quite
dark, and no sign had he found of the
missing wife. Even a. he neared the spot
where lay the lead snake the husband
nursed a hope that she was just hiding to
brighten him.
A HORRIBLE SIGHT.
Now he was nearing the spot. Great
heaven! what was that? There was some
thing wrong. Madly he rushed forward,
possessed of adazed, terrified consciousness
that the snake had come to life and was
moving. A few steps further, and then the
sight that met his gaze was enough to have
turned him to stone. There lay the dead
boa just as he had left it. Near it was an
other and a larger one, evidently the mate
of the one he had slain. This monster was
coiled tightly about some white object and
the man over yonder became u raving
maniac as he followed with his eyes the
swaying motion of the brute's scaly head.
The circle of the snakes body contracted,
and there was a horrible cracking sound.
"Then an arm, a dainty white clad arm,
was released from it's bondage. 1t fell to
the earth and Smith saw it. He knew that
the one being he loved best on earth was
wrapped in that awful embrace. He heard
the cracking of bones and knew that his
wife's delicate framew was being crushed to
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