Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-08-09

op"uish cavalry. ne $1,000 up one OF
these doughty weapons beside my
bed, with an odd smile, intimating
that he should keep the other near
his own colchon in the back room
which he occupied on the ground floor.
l laughed at him; yet In the disturbed
condition of the city Mt that time
precautions were not entirely out of
place.
After he had said buenas noches, and
l had listened to his shuffling feet de-
scending the stairs, read again for
while, and then went to a window to
look down into the street, which was
very quiet and dimly lighted. Pres
entity heard the tramp of a patrol
squad and a sergeant with five SOL
diers passed. From the window
could see three natives peeping after
them from the entrance Of an alley.
"Such is Manila in $780, thought,
and went to bed.
The night was not uncomfortably
hot. l blew out the feeble lamp and
fell asleep at once.
s A scraping sound soon walked me;
n rat was dragging one Of my shoes
across the tiled floor. When 1 struck
a match, the big gray fellow dropped
the shoe and scurried into corner,
where l could see his small eyes re-
flecting the light.
put my shoes and socks on my bed,
and again fell asleep; but not for
long. Frightful squealings broke out.
"A battalion of charging Filiplnos
could hardly have made a sharper up
roar-and 1t was overhead! Some
thing larger than rats this time" l
thought, starting up, and once more
lighted my lamp.
The ceilings of these old Spanish
houses usually show the beams and
boards. A heavy object was rolling
and tumbling in the loft above the
ceiling of my room. and Gould hear
an occasional clang against the iron
roof above 1t. Then a strange. graf
ing, sliding noise succeeded, followed
Immediately by another frightful out
burst of screams; then bump.thump-
plump all over the loft!
Considerably excited, 1 jumped up,
and SELLING the old lance, struck and
prodded the ceiling-boards vigorously.
These proved not to be nailed or
fastened in any way; they turned
over easily. Dirt, dust and a shower
of rubbish fell. But my demonstra-
ton had the effect of quieting the
noise for the time being.
From the sounds was sure that a
man or some large animal, as well as
rats, must be in the loft-a creased
picard, perhaps. Mounting chair,
with the lance in one hand, held up
the lamp. AS l raised the light there
was n sudden commotion above, a
clatter of the overturned boards, and
there slid down, not a yard from my
face, fully fathom's length of the
ugliest scaly serpent that ever set
my eyes on.
yelled outright, purely from ter
ror, and jumped down from the chair.
The monster appeared to be coming
down tail first The lamp chimney
fell to the floor and broke, by no
means improving the feeble light. The
of twas still sliding
down. Apparently there were yards
Of 1t behind.
Its tail now nearly touched the floor.
Putting down the flaring lamp.
snatched my carbine and literally
blew hole through the reptiles body.
1t fell, bleeding and thrashing, on the
tiles.
But the noise in the loft had In
creased. CHANGING up, saw the tail
of another python whipping down as
he ran over the beams. A second shot
sent it executing even wilder gyra-
tons.
At length, catching sight Of its body
gliding across one of the wide cracks
! had made by overturning the boards,
l fired and brought it down through
the hole.
Both snakes, the smaller of which
was not less than nine feet long, were
now tumbling spasmodically about the
room, and leaped upon the bed, for
my feet were bare, and 1 was other
wise in scanty raiment.
At that moment there came hasty
at the door, with Florencio
crying in alarmed accents, "Senor!
Senior! Que hay?'
He had naturally concluded that n
battle with robbers was raging. 1t
is good evidence of his fidelity that
he had seized his lance and come to
my assistance.
With an eye to the writhing SER
penis, got down, threw the door open
and jumped hastily back on the bed.
Florencio, weapon in hand, peered in.
He was ashen with terror. But as his
eyes took in the situation, the dying
serpents and the damaged ceiling, his
face regained its wonted expression.
Nay, he even smiled!
Then, marking my excitement, he
began reassuring discourse, of
which understood scarcely a word
Quite fearlessly, as it seemed to me,
he seized the snakes by the tail, and
hauling them out on the gallery,
threw them down into the patio. Then
he began to tidy up the room, all the
while repeating something about
culebras de casa (house snakes), and
that ell senior myself no conoce ibid
not know.
Y 4 4 A.. r