The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-11-20

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] huge python.
Our warning cry as we sprang to our
feet seemed to break the spell that
bound him, for, with an agonized
howl, Rover sweryed to one side and
sprang far out into the river. Where
he sank sthe water was churned into
foam by the flashing tails of the alli-
gators as they fought over their prey.
Then the ripples gradually died away.
and few fakes Of blood-red foam
| were the only traces left Of the trag-
edy.
We fell back on tho raft overcome
with terror at the poor dogs fate:
| but strange fascination compelled
us to turn our gaze on the hideous
and dangerous reptile that had forced
its companionship upon us. There it
| lay, coiled up on the logs not more
than fifteen feet from us, it's small, fiat
head reared above the huge coil, and
! waving to and fro with a rhythmic mo-
| ton that seemed almost to hypnotic
us. 1t was only by q strong effort Of
| will-power that we at last averted our
eyes, and turned to look about us.
The lightning that had revealed our
| grim companion must have been the
| last flash Of the storm, for the clouds
| had cleared away, the stars had come
out and were already beginning to pale
| before the advancing light of dawn.
With lightened hearts we turned
n in ~ of he
to our horror, that he had moved up
nearer to us. He was nearly ten feet
in length, and at least nine inches
through the thickest part Of his body.
Unarmed, we We're no match for him.
In our rear were the river and the
alligators; we could retreat no farther
unless we wished to share the fate
of poor Rover.
SO overcome We're we by a sense Of
our helplessness and the horror Of the
situation that l believe if the python
had advanced any nearer, we should
have jumped from the raft to be torn
to pieces by the. alligators But Just
then we heard a loud shouting, and
looking downstream we saw a ma
tive fishing-boat, manned by crew of
Withholding, half-naked Burmans,
skimming toward us under the. i'm
pulse of half dozen long, paddle
shaped sweeps.
We would have welcomed anything
in the shape Of rescue party, even
had We knCwn them to be cannibals;
oil
raft, we sprang forward with the in
tention Of boarding her at once. But
we started back in alarm as the py-
thon glided up to the boat and slid
over the gunwale into the Sternsneets.
The men, instead Of showing any fear,
seemed to rejoice in the advent of this
strange passenger; and it was only af-
ter protracted welcome to his snake
ship that they again turned their at
tention to us.
In pidgin-E English the men at the
helm invited us to get in and go ashore
with them to their village, which was
now plainly in sight among the trees
on the farther bank. But the pres
ence CT the snake, and the longing
greedy looks the men cast on our raft,
made us hesitate, and as we hung back
a hearty British cheer startled us, and
we turned round just in time to grasp
the gunwale of cur gig and steady her
alongside. Then the boatswain and
four others of our shipmates tumbled
on the raft and fairly Rugged us in
their joy at finding us alive and well.
The Burmans had showed off with
their python as our boat came along
side, and were already we'll OH the way
to their village. AS we lay back, wait
ing for the flood-tide to set, that we
might get the raft off and tow it back
to the ship, the boatswain told us how
the native fishermen make domestic
pet of the python or subba-gyee, as
they call it, and use him as barometer
when they go fishing. He will remain
coiled up comfortably in the bow OF
the boat until u storm is coming on,
when he promptly slips overheard and
heads for the shore. The fishermen
then make sail and follow him with all
possible celebrity.
The pet subba- gyee is fed on diet
of rice and eggs, and lives in the house
very companionably with the cat and
the baby. This, of course, explained
the situation as far as the snake was
concerned, but it did rot in the least
mitigate the horrors of the past night.
And to this day, whenever I partake
too freely Of an unusually heavy sup
per, the subba-gyee and the aligators
are generally part and parcel of the
dream-horrors that visit my restless
coech. We towed the raft back to the
ship, and the skipper was SO pleased
to have us all back safe ard sound
that Phil and I escaped with a very
mild OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Companion.
"Wi1d Animals' of England.
A correspondent thinks that some one
ought to write an account of ssthe wild
animals of Great Britain" A horse
which escaped from Colchester bar
racks WIS actually able to roam at