The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-01-31

so. hit the plate so sharply that The
jaws came to with 4 snap.
Il had sCooped out a place for it in
the path. and was pressing the stiff
spring down with my knee and the
jaws with my hands. when l felt some
thing touching my foot behind.
1.-THE strain upon my arms was so
great that I dared not risk loosing the
spring with my knee. for fear the long
toothed jaws would close on my hands.
So without pausing. I spread the jaws
on down and open and held them there.
And 1 continued to hold them there.
for crawling up slowly between my
knees came the head and neck Of a
great snake. A second look was not
needed to show me that it was a water
moccasin, as vicious and as deadly a
reptile as the r~attlesnake.
'The thick. heavy-jawed head slid
up along my left wrist and curved out
directly across the open trap. There
it lay. All depended upon my keeping
ing perfectly quiet, for the beast WAS
not alarmed, though I could see that
the light in its eyes only half-smold-
cred. Its dull wits were aware of
something unusual here, and 50 it
had paused, suspicious.
FORTUNATELY. the trap was fully open
now and not hard to hold. But my
body was cramped into an unnatural!
posture with the effort to set the
spring, and this, together with the ter
rible nervous strain Of having that
deadly, scaly head against my hand.
soon began to tell upon my strength.
'If I could only get my knee off the
spring without arousing the snake. and
still hold the trap open with my hands,
l might be able to release the jaws
quickly enough to cut the muddy,
horrid head clean off.
II would risk it while I had the
power: but instantly that power left
me. Whether I had half-consciously
heard a twig break, or by some. mys-
FERROUS telepathy felt the gaze Of the
panther, fixed upon me, I Go not know;
but without looking up I knew that
the beast lay in the path at the top
of the ridge above me.
81 had scarcely to move my head in
order to see him. There in the deep
ening twilight he stood motlonless. his
front paws on the ridge, his head lifted
high, looking in surprise at me.
Then the head was slowly lowered.
the big paws reached down. and the
long body lattened itself to the ground.
My flesh might have been of stone, so
far as any trace of feeling went. I
was frozen to the spot and to the
open trap. But trap and snake were
forgotten while I glared back into the
blazing eyes that glared down into
mine, as the great cat began its
stealthy crawl over the ridge for a
footing to spring.
81 could see only the blaze of the
eyes, the hump Of the working Shout
ders and the twitch, twitch OF the SLOW
ly swaying tail, so quickly had the
motion the brute made.
"He had come entirely ovcr the ridge
when the hump Of his shoulders sank.
He had fattened. Then it began to
rise slowly. and I knew the moment Of
crisis had ONE The creature was
gathering himself together for the
leap.
Suddenly, with a scream that was
half-snarl. he sprang, snapped short in
the air. turned heels over. and was
jerked head down into the path before
me.
81 was standing, with the moccasin's
scaly tail lashing my boots.
"The panther had crept one step too
close, and had planted his paw in the
open trap near the top Of the hill.
SIN my excitement and fright I had
entirely forgotten that it was there,
and the brute as he had era wled down
upon me had been too eager to notice it.
"The moccasin was squirming in the
trap I had been holding, its head
nearly severed. But how I did it, how
I got off the trap to my feet. I have
never known at a~ll."-YOuth's Com
panion.