The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-05-17
THE BROWN DEATH.
From the Detroit Free Press.

1 was living in the town Of Akyab,
which is a very old English port in
Burmah, and among other men there /
knew and had business with q native,
born but Christian man named Mordai
One day he came to me and asked mo
to go over to some property he had on
. neigh boring island He had been
having trouble about boundaries and
wanted me to give him an unbiased
opinion. We started in sailboat about
I2 o'clock and got to his place
about l. He and / got out OF the
boat and went up to small bungalow
he had built there These jungle
bungalows are built on posts about six
to ten feet from the ground and consist
of simply the floor, the roof and some
times walls run up six or seven feet
There is no ceiling and nothing over
head but the roof, which is made of
bamboo and matched with leaves from
the toddy plant
We were sitting on the veranda, the
roof of which was not more than five
or six feet from our heads Mordai
was talking to me about the boundary,
and l had become quite interested in
some maps he had in his lap While
engaged in examining them l felt
something fall and strike my shoulder.
/ rose quite slowly, still talking to
Mordai, and turned about to see what
was in my chair, thinking that per-
haps a piece Of bamboo had been blown
down by the wind. AS i turned my
II Iaf i
struck motionless by a hoarse For
Gods sake. don't move, Sahibf' From
the horror in his voice / knew as well
as if could see it that a cobra, or a
khorite, equally deadly and more nu-
merous in that part, was on my shoul-
der. 1 stood perfectly motionless.
FOR I knew that the snake, being
aroused now, would strike if he felt
the least movement Cold perspira-
ton stood out on my forehead. and
set my teeth hard and waited 1t was
toss-up, l knew; either deliverance,
and that speedily, or the sharp, sting
ing punctures in my neck or head, and
then-death. Every minute seemed
an age My suspense was tho
more horrible because l could
not see my enemy, and
so could not tell the moment he would
strike. Probably not a minute elapsed
from the time l stood up until / saw
Mordai approaching me from in front,
but it seemed to me year. He had
gone through one of the rooms and
thus got around in front of me without
disturbing the snake. In his hand he
held a Burmese dab "a sword) and l
knew that he meant to cut the snake
down with one strong stroke He
crept up close beside me and raised the
sword, trembling in every limb His
face was CHASTITY and his eyes seemed
glazed with horror. The sword trem-
bled for moment in his nerveless
hand, and then with hoarse whisper
of My God, can't do it." he let it fall
from his hand and tottered to a chair.
He was an old man and his nerve had
given way. He dared not risk the re-
suit of his blow should he fail to cut
down the serpent. When the sword
fell could feel slight vibration on
my shoulder, and 1 closed my eyes. ex-
pecting to feel the cold pat and the
sharp singing thrust OF the death
dealing fangs. 1 stood perfectly mo-
tionless, but my mind worked with the
rapidity of lightning. 1 felt almost
grateful that Mordai had not struck,
for I could see that his nerves were
so unstrung that he would in all prob
ability have missed the snake. / knew
that our servants and boatmen would
soon be up with our traps, and my only
hope was to stand quite still until they
arrived. Time will never efface the
memory of that death wait from my
mind. In the chair. shriveled and
CHASTITY, his hollow, half-glazed eyes
staring at me with the helpless, fasci-
mated gaze of bird half in the tolls of
a serpent, huddled Mordai His white,
bloodless lips moved spasmodically. as
over and over he repeated in dread
whisper: God! the brown DEATH"
/ then knew it was khorite. Cinging
to my shoulder was n snake ten times
more malignant and merciless than a
cobra, and just as deadly-"The Brown
.Death"-of the natives a reptile of
which it has been said, that IL a man
were to gaze for any length Of time in
TO its eve he would become insane. Un-
like all other creatures il has no pupil
to its eye-nothing but a brown mass
of rnalignity.
do not know how long IL was, bu.
it seemed an eternity OF time that
stood thus At last the swinging Mad
rassi song of the boatmen carrying the
stuff broke on my ears like song OF
deliverance. Dull and monotonous il
had seemed TO me often enough, but
now it sounded like the sweetest music
ever caroled. Their singing seemed TO
arouse Mordai from his trsncelike
stupor, and staggering out he grasped
my faithful servant Emir-Alli, by the
shoulder, and with his lean. bony fin
ger pointed toward me. No need Of
explanation for Emir-AllL Ny heart
gave a tbrob of joy when / saw his sup
pie, careless form straighten up and
his black eyes glisten with the light
had seen in them before in time Of
deadly peril Twice before had we
.fronted death together and his nerves
had been steel and his heart had no;
faltered. Even now / see him as he
stood just outside the veranda, one of
the few natives 4 white man had trust
ed. and met trust for trust and loyalty
ever.
Discarding his CANDY jacket and
gathering up his dOte tight about his
hips, so that his sinewy limbs CLEANED
like those OF q statue, he set his