Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-08-03
change in the, weather. Although

change in the weather. Although
the fiery serpent was coming right
at him accompanied by the sough-
ing noise he had heard, Farmer
j Weston did not move from his
tracks. But the snake suddenly
changed its course when it had
come within twenty feet of him
and made directly for the barn
AS the snake turned from its
course the sound that was travelling;
with it changed and became
exactly such a noise as made by a;
steam gong. At the same instaps,;
Weston felt sharp electric shock:
and he was unable to move g
muscle or utter a sound. He was:
like one paralyzed.
"The snake made straight for
the barn climbed right up the side:
of the building to the roof, and for.
five minutes contorted itself in
fiery gyrations all around the out
side of the barn. Weston expec-I
ted every second to see the build
ing burst into flames, but nothing
of the kind occurred. At last the
fiery serpent climbed to the peak
of the roof and raised up on one.
end of itself perpendiculary in the
air, where it swayed and whirled1
for a minute or more, when there.
came sound like the report Of a.
distant cannon and the startling
exhibition was at an. end. The
fiery serpent disappeared as if it.
had never been. With the report
that doused the glim of the snake
SO to speak, Farmer Weston felt
another strong electric shock, but
it seemed to come as an antidote
to the first one for he instantly re-
covered the use of his limbs and
his voice. The temperature of the
weather instantly rose again, and
stood where it was before the
strange fire of the snake bad sent
it down.
"The first thing Farmer Weston
did was to go back to the house
and confde to his wife what he
had seen. She was inclined TO
pooh-pooh him, but at last ac-
companied him to the barn with
lantern. They were confronted
with startling surprises. The first;
was the effect the 6ery aerpsh
sport had on the barn. The build
ing was covered with what seemed
to be network Of icy ropes,
evidently marking where the
snake had flashed about on around
and over the barn. But the net
work wasn't ice. So far from it
that a lighted candle held against
the substance would not melt it.
Going into the barn they found
their two horses standing motion
less in their stalls. They were
alive, warm to the touch, and
breathing naturally. But they
were powerless, even under the
lashing of whip, to move a
muscle. The shepherd dog lay on
the barn floor, just as he had gone
to sleep. The farmer soon dis
covered that the dog was lifeless.
He stopped down to move him,
and was amazed to find that he
could not bulge him, and it re-
quired the strength of both Weston
and his wife to lift him. He had
turned to solid stone. Three days
passed, during which time the
Weston farm was thronged with
people who focked to see the
amazing sequences of the fiery
serpent's visit, and the two horses,
showing no sign of recovering
from their strange paralysis, were
killed. In the course of a week
the labyrinthine trail of the serpent
OH the barn crumbled away and
fell off, SO that the only tangible
evidence of the appearance Of the
fiery, freezing and paralyzing
serpent that Farmer Weston has
on hand is the pertifed dog"