The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-08-13

might nave DSen-
The foxy drummer, tired with a
days hustling, swung around the
corner of the BIount building and
made straight for ais hotel. The
street lights glitteTed and cleaned
from PalafOX, as he made his way
down the practically deserted thor
OUghfaTe- and cast shadows that
heightened and ever heightened as
the lone man continued on his way
Suddenly he stopped; stopped stone
still in the middle Of the pavement,
and watched, with a power which he
could not res It. a creeping, crawling
thing he saw slipping across his pain
into a darkened alley near by. 1t was
a snake. He had Travelled the swampS
of Louisiana and the marshes of south
Alabama too much during the past
few years not to know that move
ment to perfection Somehow, how
ever, coming stark onto a good sized,
4 healthy-appeaTing reptile crossing the
pavement of a city street with the
calm assurances of any ordinary cit1-
zen, rather got" him.
Still he stood fascinated The Shiny
body shOne in the darkness, and
with each contraction and relaxation
of its peculiar muscles, was dragging
itself further and further toward the
dark recesses of the aIleyway.
Now if he should let that snake get
safely away before his very eyes, he
considered, and that self-same reptile
should decide TO continue his resi-
dence in the heart of a busy city like
Pensacola and perhaps attack some
unsuspecting individual during the
course of its travels. he would. in
deed. find it nard to forgive himself
for his lack of nerve
All at once he was aroused from
his apparent lethargy- i say, man,
bawled Johnson, the baId-headed, good
natUTed pickle man who sometimes
made the West Florida towns, as ne
too blew breeZily around the corner.
What are you standing there like a
plumb idiot for2 Are you sick? Any
thing all you, old MANI"
Something must be done. and done
quickly. The foxy drummer sweat
great white beads of perspiratiOn as
ne thought Finally he brought his
sample case down with a terrific
force on the snake and the pavement
Then he got up on his case and jump
ed on it The snake gave a faint and
Pickering death stTUggIe-after all It
had been easy
The man who had been hopping
about on his sample case was ad-
dressing Johnson, who, by this time
had reached the spot Biggest snake
this season." he explained. CxcitedIy
Killed him with my sample case. too.
Whipped around lot but I fixed him"
Finally he became aware of the fact
that he was talking to thin, thin. air
Johnson had taken one look at the
thing under the case. as it lay in its
horrible shapeIessness. and then fed
on to the hotel to spread the alarm.
He burst into the office. We've Just
put one Of the biggest snakes that |
ever saw in my life out of business
down the street there" he announced
Hes there yet, Just as we crushed
the life out of him. Can't be less
than six feet long. and mes rs biz
around as my arm. Just coiIed and
ready to spring, too, when I saw him"
A dozen or more, who had COngre-
gated about the coy smoking rooms
of the h0Ste1Ty. were by this time halt
way down the street in order 10 sec
for themselves The real vanquisher
the knight of the sample case. still!
stood guard on the spot. He hadn't
even attempted TO look at the thing
Finally the excited aggregation
reached him. and some one. a trihs
more valOrOus than the rest. lifted
the case, gingerly. carefully. cautious
" from the mangIed remains beneath.
The crowd peered over his shoulder
with a curiosity which was infectious.
Suddenly with a snOut of derisiOn a
small boy. on mischief bent, appPared
from the darkness of the aIIeyway,
grasped a long black string which
was attached to the body of the
snake" and slowly and eIaborateIy
drew in the mutilated carcass"
II was Il piece of an old rubber
hose,
GR-0
1t was 8 a. m. The man of the
house had labOriouSly discovered the
whereabouts of tne key hole. extrf.