Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1905-08-06

snake. that turned upon her with evil
dent intention to fight When the
husband came home he pulled up the
boards of the floor but there was ITO
sign of the snake. Next day, however,
snake ana child were discovered lying
together on the iluoI. the child asleep,
and the snake apparently So. That
night the husband tried Il plan. lie
placed candle on the iloUr alongside
OF the child. ami asked the to play n
slow air on the harmonium. Move.
mcnts Of the snake could be heard:
but the rustic was all he vouchsafrd.
Next night the child was similarly
posted, and the mother tried the effect
of working her sewing machine. The
sound was too tempting. The snake
wriggcld TO the child with alacrity.
and was promptly dispatched by the
father. 1t WAS Il tiger snake, nearly
five feet in length. ami when killed
was iu,idlcd by the child as an old ac.
quaintancc.
We never hear in the bush of Il
snake biting Il young child On the
other hand. numbers OF eases are re-.
conntcd in which mothers have laid
infants ON the bed in dark rooms. aud
discovered Il second later that a snake
"'s' ''i'Ncii iu' tnllu. III
snatchin" up nf The child released the
snake. ana invariably the trouble end.
Cd there.
a guyerncss III charge Of ii child
was fond OF sitting among the rocks
al the scaslOrc She read Il good
deal. ANA was contrMtcd 50 long us the
child played about without making
noise. Al lnst-pcrhaps she had fin
In. Il IL "a l.
strange that at that particular place
among the rucks HE child was Away;
prct "rnaturnlly quiet. She rose slow.
~ and gl'lcd 10 II protecting boulder.
hcliind which She knew the child had
cri,w!cd The child was mo1iunlcss
on hands and knees. ANA was staring
al some small object beside q. lult of
wiil'rrd grass. The .;uvcrncSs
watched inicntly fur several seconds.
Gradually she made out two hcad-likc
eyes. like little points of fire and with
further inspection w;:i able Ia define
The small head Of y snake. similar in
color 10 The willcrcd grass \ hole
ran under the rock. and the snakes
head alone protriihcd. Tho pupils of
the clild's eyes were dilatrd. but in
other respects II was half asleep. This
would help the claims Of those who
cndow snakes with Il power to fascin-
ate birds. But there was nothing to
Indicate that the snake in question
meant, injury to the chilli.
a bush clergyman visited me on one
occasion, and, ,lismuunting, threw his
SaddlclaS on the vcrantla. The flap
fell open and Il green whip snake
popped ont. 1t happened that there
was no weapon handy, and the snake
disappeared under the house. The
clergyman was greatly frightened He
calculated that the snake must have
hccn in his bag during his last ten.
mile ride, and reflected that he had
put his hand in several times for one
article or another. lie carefully cX-
amincd his right hand for marks of
lanGS. and became treasured when not
Il single scratch could be discovered
We kept IL sharp lookout for some
days for the snake. and renewed ac-
duainiancc with it under singular cir.
cumstanccs. Minnie, the child prcvi-
ously alluded tn, WIS overheard Civ
ing something like words of command
near the stump of All old ironbari tree
Il little way from the end of the house
On Htcalihily approaching | WAS thun.
drr-siruck. hrckOncd To other mem.
hers of tile family to tip-toc 10 me. II
was M optical illusion. There. in
real fact. was a green whip snake
dancing before the child. The infer.
encc WAS, of course. that il was the
clcrEyman's whip snake. It's motions