The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-01-11
WAS CHARMED BY A aAITLesNAKe.
An Abled-Boiied Man Made Helpless by
the Serpent's subtle Spell.

An Able6-BO tied Man Made Helpless by
the Serpent's subtle Spell.
!. W. Felts, a prominent and reliabl
citizen of the adjoining county OF Cheat
ham, SAYS a Clarksvilie Tenn CORE
spOndent OF the st. Louis GioJe- Democrat,
relates the following extraordinary story
OF the influence exerted upon him 10y a
rattiesnake a short time ago:
Il started out one day IN company with
cOlOred man 10 cut some timber, having
a measuring pole in hand, the negro carry
ing an AK. After a time we separated. and
/ had not gone lar before | noticed large
ratiesaake in the path ahead OF me. APP
parsntly we discovered each other about
the same time, and both stopped My
first thought wac TO kill the reptile, but
he threw himself into a coil, and | con-
Guided, as the space around was open,
and not caring his escape, to wait and see
what the snake would DO. / was soon in
teCtly watching his movements. He cut
up more antics than / had ever seen per-
formed by snake. To me it was a pict-
ure calculated to attract and rivet atten-
ton, and my purpose OF destruction was
soon forgotten.
Ere l was aware of il stood or rather
stopped, spelbOund. as if translixed 10 the
spot, without the power OF speaking or
moving, save in obedience TO the will of
my captOr. / ielE the distance between
Us continually lessening, and. although
was conscious of my perilous position
seemed powerless to change it, and, what
may seem to be more strange. had no de-
sire TO do so. only to approach nearer the
the object that. under different cifcum-
stances, would have been one of terror
rather than attraction. / knew we were
nearing each other, but how / could not
tell, not being conscious of moving. and
the snake appeared to occupy the same
position relatively as at first. 1 only know
that In the beginning ! stood erect, now
was in a kneeling position, my body in.
Ginning forward, 1y right hand extended,
gradually nearing the snake, not IN a
straight line, but oscillating. and at each
moment LISTENING the distance. From the
first moment that l caught the eve OF the
reptile there seemed a line extending
from each of his eyes to mine, about the
size OF ordinary sewing thread, which
seemed to exert power over me sufficient
to hold me and make me subservient to
his will.
How long l remained in this position 1
know not. The colored man becoming
uneasy at nv prolonged absence com
menced calling me. l could distinctly
near uliut Dut ndu no power 10 answer
Finally searching for me he found me- in
the attitude described. He again called
to me, but as before l paid no attention to
him. Then he came nearer and discov-
cred the huge reptile within few feet of
me coiled for the deadly spring, my right
hand within a few inches OF his mouth,
each gazing Intently into the other S
eyes. lie compTehended the situation at
once. took hold of me violently
and threw NE back ward from the
snake, thus partially breaking the spell.
No effort was made by the snake 20 es-
cape. The negro at once killed the snake,
while l all the time was begging him not
to 90 20 1t measured about six feet in
length and fourteen inches in circumfer-
ence and had eight rattles.
Il was so completely under the influ-
ence OF the snake that | could not shake
it Oft, nor in fact, had any disposition to
do so. The hallucination was not only
pleasant. but exhilarating, and there was
only lacking one undesirable something
could not tell what, but it seemed almost
within my grasp-to make my happiness
complete. SO powerful was the effect upon
my system that was striken down with
a severe spell of sickness