Arizona republican., 1894-10-02
THE BITE OF A COBRA.
How the Man That Receives It
 Must Suffer.
The Thrilling Story Told by a British Sol. dier-A Horrible Experience That Whitened His Hair-ThrOugh
 Years of Torture.

l that one must die in half hour or so?" drawlea out Capt. Gordon. as he puffed lazily at his cheroot on the veranda of the One Hundred and Ninth hussars' mess at Fyzabad.
 l It was after the mess dinner and the regimental band had bagged their in struments and gone silently away into the hot stifing night. Half a dozen officers were reclining in ''long-sleeved 1 chairs" their feet up on the arms and pegs" with plenty of ice, standing in long glasses like grim sentries, to keep l the demon thirst away.
 "Well, know exactly how it feels" l clipped in Bings-Bings, ''the stoic," as he was called-with an earnestness that fairly took away Gordon's breath. "Yes," added the new speaker, II have been there,' as they say but lan- guage cannot convey the full horror of the feeling. It was years ago, when l first came out to join, and we were 1 stationed in Burmah. was on special duty out in the jungle, and where we were located was the snakes paradise. Hardly day passed that we did not kill one or more either in or about the bungalow. It was continual cry of: | 'Samp hai, sahib' Ia snake, sir), with a regular clearing out of all the servants
 Ut really seemed that all the poison ous snakes in India had agents do- ing business in that part Immense boas, sleepy, devilish karaites, vicious | ell cobra, chock full of fight. No man thought of putting on his boots with out giving them good shake first, and even clothes were inspected at arms length.
 l 'I received a rare shock one day-a sort of preliminary canter to the cobra episode I am about to relate. I had i just finished my bath and was pulling my banian over my head when huge centipede lost his hold inside of it and rolled down my back. Ugh! it made my flesh creep to look at the loath- some, poisonous thing.
 Another time I found cast-off skin of some poisonous snake on the edge of my bed just outside of the monjerie (mosquito curtain), that had been probably slipped off while slept
 ''You will understand that fresh out | from home, as l was, all this sort of thing crept into my dreams; sleeping meant one long, continuous night mare. The bungalow was the usual style of things in Burmah, bamboo and leaves. It was raised some seven or eight feet from the ground on posts; but this only seemed to tempt some unwelcome guests to climb up and nest in the leaves of the matched roof. 1 During the dry weather they lived in the ground in holes which mistaken sort of providence pr ovided for them, and when the big rains set in they were drowned out and came to the bunga- low as a nice dry place to live in.
 ''One hot sweltering night I was laying in a state half asleep and half heat stupor, when I suddenly became aware that dark, fiat object, in which gleamed two spots of malignant light, was moving up along my right leg just between it and the moujerie l could just see it over my limb and the blood in my veins simply froze with horror as I realized that it must be either cobra or a karaite. The body of the serpent was evidently in the bed and the head elevated just enough to watch my face. Aqueer constructive sort of feeling shot up and down my scalp and the hair stood out straight, | 1 am sure.
 ''There are no words in which can convey the slightest idea of the full measure of loathsome horror which took possession of me and turned me sick with the intensity of its dreadful ness when Irecognized that was shut up in that curtain with, and complete ly at the mercy of one of those death dealing fends. I dared not move a muscle-to call out meant death, for were he aroused, either by fear or an ger, he would deal out death to the nearest living object with the rapidity of lightning. My hand was lying down beside my thigh and already I could feel his cold, slimy body moving over it. If my blood was frozen before, this chilled the very marrow in my bones I could see very little, by the light o1 the fiickering lamp which hung in the veranda opposite my door, beyond that flat, swaying head, set like a fend's toy with those devilish flaming eyes,
 ''I felt that could not stand it much longer. I should become a raving maniac if something did not happen soon. I almost wished that he would strike and end the dreadful suspense knew that he would not voluntarily leave the bed all night, and would most probably coil himself up on my chest and remain there. One year, two years, ten years, I lay thus, with the