The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-08-11

started toward him in the dark, stumbling
over heap of regalia only to find his words
| true-the door was shut and immovabie!
For several minutes of silence We stood
| there hearing our hearts humping in our
breasts and clutching our pistols, expecting
every moment to see the enemy who had
| turned the trick on US, but the silence was not
broken. We listened with all ears for some
noise which would indicate that tho under
ground labyrinth was inhabited; We felt the
| walls with our hands in the vain search for an.
| other outlet, but none rewarded Us.
| Suddenly my hand came in contact with
| something which sent q thrill of horror through
| every nerve. did not have to think the sec.
| ond time to guess what had touched in that
stygian gloom, for the contact was quite enough.
| had simply laid my hand on the body Of q
| boa
For some time leaned against the wall, de-.
| prived of the power of speech. / wondered
where the serpent was and how near to my body
was his disgusting head, and che folds which
can crush stag to death in an instant
my God have touched . srake!" rang
| out the voice of Casey, and / felt him reel
against me in the dark. mo wonder the old
be looted. He has kept it guarded by serpents
| and we are in their coils!
We stood together, our hands touching and
| our hearts almost stilled by terror. Shut up In
chamber with lot of boas was terrible
enough, and when we knew that these mon
sters could see in the dark and were noiseless
in their actions, our fears increased until We
were fairly paralyzed with it.
MY very life for o match" whispered
Casey, breathing hard, as / could hear. u
would like to know where the Shiny demon IS
| and how near US are his devilish eyes"
We searched our pockets and / finally fshed
up from one corner the stub of a lucifer, which
1 handed to my companion, who took it with
cry of thank fulness.
held my breath as he drew it along the
wall and, at the same time. raised my cooked
pistol, eager to send bullet through the head
of the nuwab's treasure guard. Where would
We find the serpent and how large was he?
The little fame leaping up seemed to shine
like star amid the gloom, but in an instant
it went out, like the others had done. But
that short period of time was enough. 1t
showed us more than we cared to look at: it
revealed the most terrible sight of my life, and
], who have passed through the furnace of an
Indian revolt, who have seen the mutilated
bodies of the Cawnpore victims, have gazed
upon some startling scenes.
Looking down at us from q hole in the wall,
with one-half of his glistening and spotted
body out, was q serpent OF the constructor
species, large, terrible, and loathsome. The
forked tongue darted In and out within few
feet of our heads and the little eyes shone like
diamonds in their malignant glee.
saw that the snake was banded with gold
band, which encircled the neck just back Of
the head, thus fixing the question of owner
ship. for the old nuwab had banded every
living thing in his palace; why not the Shiny
guard of the treasure?
When Casey saw the serpent he gave one I'M
earthly Shrek and staggered down the wall,
leaving me. / stood there with weakened
limbs and cold sweat on my forehead. / felt,
as it were, the hot. fetid breath Of the reptile
on my cheeks, and when / recoiled an act OF
selfpreservation, 1 thought was falling down
into some bottomless pit
Not sound had followed Casey's shrek.
felt for another match. intending In moment
of forced courage to send bullet through the
menacing head, but found nothing of the kind.
I crept down the wall to q corner, stopped and
picked up something at my feet only to drop it,
for it was lizard which stung me ere let it
go.
All at once the voice of Casey rang out, call
ing on God to help him.
The sounds froze every drop of blood in my
veins and started over to where he was to
quiet him, when recoiled, for / heard the
breaking of bones and knew that the serpent
had the poor fellow in the fatal coilsl
The afr of the snake guarded chamber now
seemed closer than ever.
] stood for time along the wall, hearing
the groans of the man die ont as the serpent
completed bis work, and then in my frenzy I
turned to the door and tore at It with tho
strength of two men. But could not open it
Minutes were hours to me, cooped up in that
demon place with the silence of terrible death
to keep me company. All the scenes of my
life, even the frivolous ones of boyhood, came
back in panoramic view as I looked out upon
utter darkness and imagined that the serpent
was silently creeping upon bis second victim.
nacna ION at loct hrn 0ff IN INV
nerves and senses. / resolved to face the ter
TOR, to take the initiative. and thus armed /
crept down the wall with one hand thrown
out and in the other one of the short but razor
edged and bediamonded knives which had
picked up at my feet
Where was the slayer Of poor Csseyf
Seeing nothing in that gloom. / crept on and
with something horribly smooth. It was the
body of the boa!
My hand could not span the girth of that
terrible form, but 1 believed from tho sudden
wriggling that had touched it near the head.
In fact when / moved my hand again it came
In contact with the gold necklace, and then,
with the fury Of demon despair and revenge,
hacked away with the Indian knife.
felt that blade 90 through flesh and bono
with the keenness of kris. With my blood at
fever heat and my nostrils filled with the suffo-
eating odor which emanated from tho serpent,
did not stop for second, but cut away for life.
i felt that everything depended on what I
was at and worked that knife with all my
might, feeling the folds give way, and the gold
band at last fell to the floor with ring.
/ knew from the contortions of the huge
body that the head was off and staggering back
with gasp l fell against the wall.
When / came back to life felt some air on
my cheek, and then q streak of light which
came from certain spot showed me the inte-
rior of the place. looked about me an instant
and then shut my eyes.
In one corner lay the crushed body Of Casey,
and across the floor, reaching from wall to
wall, stretched the spotted length of the terror
of the nuwabs treasure-house the severed head
three feet from the trunk.
My first thought was escape. The light came
from the hole In the wall, and ] drew myself
up to it, squeezed my body through and
dropped on the other side.
There / found door leading knew not
whittier. but did not stop to ask. ! threaded
the corridor, passed up to the sunlight in tho
nuwabs palace, and fell headlong, unconscious,
on the street. My escape from the palace was
miraculous and for three months the Surgeon
had a mad patient, but after the plundering of
the palace by the enraged soldiers in return
for the massacre Of Cawnpore came back TO
reason, and again took my place In the ranks.
Not for long time could / be induced to
speak of the adventure in the subterranean
chamber. The very horror of it seemed to con.