The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-08-25

The body bent sideways, but otherwise
was as rigid as a stick Of wood The
professor carefully turned Il over tocx-
anime the bright, yellow belly
cts a glass snake" he whispered, in
an ecstasy Of delight The first live
one ] have ever handled
"Igut It Is dead now, said the either
The professor chucklcd Dead,
dead. " he replied Not At all; he viii
live many years with the care ] will
bestow upon him lie Is playing pos
sum II he had only had time he would
have disjointed himself like lizard
ard lost the three -fpurths Of himself
until we were out Of sight and hear
ing.
They returned to the rendezvous and
found their two companions there. OF
course they laughed at the professor for
the tender care he took Of his treasure,
and against his vigorous protests laugh
ingly hung the specified beauty on tho
branch with the other victims Of the
hunt II was impossible to convince
the professor that his little pet was
dead, but Mt last he consented to leave
/ it long enough to join us IN one more
hunt.
II will 60, = he sighed, "but half 81
my snake will be gone when ! return,
and am too old ever 10 hope 70 capture
another specimen alive" Reluctantly
the old man followed them frequently
casting a glance behind until They
were ont Of sightof the moss-eorercd
live-oal. They did not 10 far before
encountering two or three lazy moc-
casins summing their ugly brown bodies
by the side Of the road. XIII thcm''
shouted two voices in unison They
were killed k4
Why not save one. alive2' ! asked
the stranger
Because II you did, vas the reply,
"the chances are that you would get
bitten in the back Of the leg wien You
least expected H. | would moi trust u
dead moccasin have seen one with
its back broken creep up t. man ara
try to bite him. .
They succeeded in catching Nsverals
small snakes Of the garter variety and
any quantity OF grass smokes, which
were very common. i
One little reptile, some three feet in
mans little finger, was mainly a bright
vermilion; itsivelvet back was striped
with brilliant yellow and dotted with
black. Little white spots covered its
head and gave the appearance of o.
Thousand eyes. The professor gave II
long name and declared 1t WAS poison
GUS. 1t was turned over 10 him for safe
keeping, and lie was soon on amicable
terms with the Misunderstanding crea-
ture, which he declared bit only upon
severe proYocation.
For nearly half an hour no snake
turned up This was unusual, and the
hunters were about To turn back and
try another road, when a negro boy Of
I about eighteen came in sight and said
! he had seen snakes.
just then alarge king snake was OBJ
served moving in the grass at the boys
feet, and several men sprang forward.
Don't hit um, massa. exclaimed the
boy ''Isc brung him out ter catch
rattlesnalse. De ole man got de rune
tism, an snake lie Is de bess ting in de
] world fer UNI =
Suddenly behind an azalea bush Some
1 yards ahead there was heard sharp,
rafting sound Like flash the swift,
4 black body Of the king snake darted
| forward There was d sound OF com
| motion in the bush and an instant
later tho dull brown length of an enor
nous rattlesnake slowly came into the
open roadway
Like streak of black lightning the
king snake dashed by and as quickly
turned and brushed across the rattler's
diamond marked back His yenomons
antagonist sprang at his foe. only to
bury his fangs in the earth Again the
tail shook and rafting broke the
/ stiffness The lattlesnalxe, coiled his
tail, moving nervously 10 and fro. The
rafting was now continuous Twice
the king snake moved rapidly in il cir
Gle about his enemy, who followed its
every movement by merely turning its
head, but at the second round the rat
tier stopped as il to straighten his
neck, and at that instant the king
snake dashed across tho folded coil
Like a flash the rattlesnale struck at
| its enemy, but sank its fangs deep into
its own flesh. The angry reptile seemed
to realize that it had inflicted n death
wound upon itself for it no longer
I acted on the defensive, but took the Of.
fcnsive But the king snake was toe
| quick for its heavy antagonist and,
| gliding out of the way, waited as
il sprang and waiting then until
the rattler lay full length on
| its belly after striking. Finally
4 the king snake sprang upon its enemy,
and twining itself about its massive
body slowly tightencd its folds until
the rattlesnake was powcrlcss in It's
( muscular hold Then slowly exerting
\ the full force Of its powerful muscles ii
slowly CONSTRUCTED the other There
| Was crunching sound as the body Of
the rattlcsnaye was torn iii Il dozen
| places
Slowly slaekening its folds the king
snake prepared TO swallow its late en-.
\ envy head first, bnt the colored boy was
/ too quick for il and seized the prize for
/ the sake 81 its Oh
\ II was amusing to see his delight III
! finding his glass snake WHOLE and un.
molested, but his joy was briefiived,
for cuffee, the colored youth, stretched
out his hand to stroke its CLASSY coat,
when two-thirds Of the snake fell Is the
1 ground. 1t had parted evenly Four
diaphragms seemed to divide the body.
\ At these places the vertebrm were so
loosely Joined that III moInen hts Of terror
4 the flesh parts Ii is an extraordinary