Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1897-12-30

| " MW portion of those
%SIMy which men are sc
-- fond of describing
as feminine. Vain, indolent, selfish,
with highly cultivated taste for lux
ury and neatness in her personal ap-
pearance, she was distinguished by all
those little irritating habits and traits
for which nothing but an affectionate
heart-a thing conspicuous by its alb
| sence-can atone.
We live i'll comfortable old fash
ioned house facing the highroad. i
say we, but i'll fact for some months |
had been alone, and my husband had
| just returned from one of his sporting
and scientific expeditions in South
America. He had already won fame
as a naturalist, aud had succeeded in
bringing home alive quite variety of
beasts, usually of the reptile order,
whose extreme rarity seemed to be a
merciful provision of nature. But all
his previous triumphs were complete
ly eclipsed, [ soon learned, by the
capture alive, on this last expedition,
of an abominably poisonous snake,
| known to those who knew it as the
Blue Dryad, or more familiarly, in
backwoods slang, as the "half- hour
| striker" in vague reference to its
malignant and fatal qualities. This
precious reptile was destined for the
Geological Gardens.
Being in extremely delicate health
at the time, need hardly say that L
knew nothing of these grewsome de-
tails until afterward. Henry THAT is
my husband), after entering my room
with a robust and sunburned appear
ance that did my heart good, merely
/ observed-as soon as we had exchanged
greeting he had brought home a
pretty snake which wouldn't do the
slightest harm"-an evasive assurance
which | accepted as became the ner-
| vous wife of an enthusiastic naturalist.
! believe [ insisted on its not coming
into the house. Fortunately the
weather was very hot, so that it was
decided that the Blue Dryad, wrapped
! in flannel and securely confined i'll a
basket, should be left i'll the sun and
the farthest corner of the veranda, dur
ing the hour or so in the afternoon
when my husband had to visit the
town on business.
He had gone Off with a cousin of
mine, an officer of Engineers in India.
stationed, l think, ut Lahore, and
home on leave. / remember that ley
! were n long time, or what seemed to
me long time, over their luncheon
and the last remark of our guest as he
came out of the dining-room remained
in my head as even meaningless words
will run in the head of any idle in
valid shut up for the most of the day
| in silent room. What he said was.
in the positive tone of one emphasiz-
ing curious and surprising statement,
"D'you know, by the way, it's the one
animal that doesn't care n rap for the
cobra" And, my husband seemir,y
/ to express disbelief and desire 10
change the subject as they entered my
boudoir, cts Il holy factl Goes for
it, so smart! Has the beggar on toast
before you can say Jack Robinsonn "
The observation did not interest me.
but simply ran in my head Then
they came into my room, only for a
few moments, rs | was not to be tired.
The engineer tried to amuse Stoffies,
who was seized with such lit of NOR
tai boredom that he transferred his at
tentions to Ruby, the Gordon setter,
Il devoted and inseparable friend of
mine, under whose charge l was short
ly left as they went ont.
suppose / may have been asleep
for ten minutes or So when [ was
awakened by the noise of Ruby's
heavy body jumping out through TIE
open window. Feeling restless and
seeing me asleep, he had imagined
himself entitled to n short spell off
| guard. Had the door not been osten-
sibly latched he would have made his
way out by it, being thoroughly used
to open doors and such tricks--a ca
pacity which, in fact, proved fatal to
him. That it was unlatched | saw in
i few moments. for the dog on his re-
turn forced it open with a push and
trotted up in a disturbed manner to
my bedside / noticed tiny spot OF
blood on the black side of his nose.
and naturally supposed he had
scratched himself against bush or a
piece Of wire. Ruby" said, what
have you been doing?" Then he
whined as if in pain, crouching close
to my side and shaking i'll every limb.
1 should say that 1 was myself lying
with shawl over my feet on deer
sofa with high back. / turned tc
look at Stoffles, who was slowly per.
ambulating the room, looking
for flies and other insects-hel
favorite amusement ON the
wainscot. When 1 glanced again al
the dog, his appearance filled me with