Evening star., 1899-03-25
A FRIGHTFUL DUEL,
Rival Indian Snake Charmers in a
B1OOd-Curdling Scene.

Blood-CurdIing Scene.
From the Pail Mall Magazine.
On the morrow (Which was the third day)
there was long delay; the prologue was
spun out ana spun out. Each of the mas
ters was in very keen anxiety as to the
snake the other had been reserving for the
great effort. AT last Souter came to the
end OF his patience, and bade them per-
emptor1iy play or pay. Thereupon Anant
Ram set small cloth on the ground very
gently, and called loudly to have the first
go. The Lord of Devils did not stand
upon the order of his going; agreed on the
instant; and his two pupils turned up a
large basket in the middle of the ring and
shook out of 1t about nine feet of that
poisonous constructor, the great hamadry-
ad. or King Cobra. 1t is the only snake in
India that attacks of itself at all times.
Its fierceness and courage are only enraled
by the brightness of it's coloring and the
strength of its coils 1t can poison as NOR
tally and strangle as surely as any snake
IN tne world; The Egyptian cerastes at
tacks and bites; the fer-de-lance Of ST.
Lucia drops from the tree, vicious and
fatal, on the hOrseman. But they are not
constructors. The great. hamadryad rears
its green length Of active, twofold, fero-
cious death in unparalleled dreadfulness
Anant Ram threw UP his arms over his
head as the double horror rushed kissing
al him; in breath its coils were around
him, its fangs tearing his arms. He flung
himself down at the pain; and put about
by this sudden act, the snake stopped bit
ing a moment to tighten it's coils Then II
reared a quarter Of its body above his head.
and as quickly as 1t could bend and strike
bit him horribly in the neck under the left
ear On the instant 1t jerked out its fangs
with a shri}l whistle and fell all slack
about him; he had bitten clean through it's
back, and was tearing it's body asunder
with frenzied hands. He rose bleeding,
dusty. wildeyed and ghastly: staggered to
the cloth that hid his snake, and yelled:
Quick! to the trial! All three Of you,
Quickr'
The Lord of Devils and his pupils hus-
tied round him; he whipped away the cloth
and barred to their eyes little, crooked
gray-brown stick. They stared at it, they
stared at one another; and slowly knowi-
edge came to them. They knew how Anant
Ram had conquered the hama adryad: that
he had won the devils to fight for him
They moved around the little stick, with
ontstretched, tWitching hands, their start
ing eyes glued to it. striving TO beat down
their dread. to force themselves to touch
1t. to awake it to malignant life Slowly
their dread mastered them; their faces
grew gray and then green; one man gave
back step, then another; one by one thew
tore away their eyes from the dormant
horror; glared at one another in the aeony
Of utter fear; turned with one accord, and
hed.fed as men fee with the fear of death
at their backs, and the devils of the lone
night and the waste on their heels. But
Anant Ram lay, Panjab, sucking the blood
of the dead hamadryad for dear life. while
his pupils in fevered haste, piled him with
remedy on remedy. In the confusion Sou
ter secured yet more material to make
surer his discoveries, and to render this
mystery of the east a working medicine
against the terror of the serpent Anant
e , o1f,
sWears that in winning his great fight he
lost the secret of ages. He breads Souter
as he breads nothing else: and to him alone
Will he reveal the mysteries of his craft