The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-02-02

sam, ne suggested, euSlHS away. III
go and be getting the bottles ready to
put EN- in. +"
mo, sir! !" Sam insisted. "You start
ed to pull 'em and you ought to do
t. l didn't start to pull 'em, did II"
"Now, see here" Penrod became
argumentative.
you better quit talkin' sc much"
Sam interrupted %doggedly. go ahead
and pull those two hairs out of his old
tail or pretty soon the man'll come out
and drive him away, and then where1l
we be? You started to do it, and so
it's your business to-"
"Well, l am goin' to, amt II"
"Noww Sam exclaimed. Hes quit
lookin' at us. Quick
Selling this opportunity, Penrod
ventured the deed and was reward
ed. The elderly horse seemed to have
forgotten his luminosity in a fit of de-
ed the enlistment by nothing
more than a slight shudder.
Preliminariee to the great expert
ment we're worked out with grave
care. The largest empty bottles obtain
able were selected, cleaned, and filled
with fair water. Then, with BETTING
s%olicitude, the two long black hairs
were lowered into the water, and the
bottles were corked. After that, a
label was pasted upon each, exhib-
iting the owners name and address.
The fascinating work was not COM
plete. however. Penrod paid a visit
to the kitchen clock, and, after some
severe exercise in computation, the
following note was inscribed in pre-
else duplicate upon the labels:
"Hair from Jacop R. Krish and COS
horse tail put in sixteen minutes of
evelen o'clock July II Snak comes six
teen minutes of evelen o'clock July 49,"
+ Penrod took his bottle to his room
that night: it stood close by his bed
side throughout the long dark hours ;
and once, waking suddenly, he CROPPED
for it feverishly, in fear. His fingers
found the smooth, cool curves of its
neck, and, treasured, he slept again, a
smile upon his face. And in the morn
ing, his waking eyes %anxiouSly sought
the bottle and its tenant; all was
safe, and Penrod rose in joy.
Never was treasure more closely
! guarded or more steadfastly watched
and, as the days passed, there devel-
| oped in Periods mind a somewhat
| definite picture of the little compan-
ion soon to be his; he was sure it
would have brown eyes-admiring
| eyes, obedient and faithful, like a
| dogs. And, while these thoughts
foated within him, he would sit by
the half-hOur, gazing at the bottle, a
gentle and warming affection emanat-
ing toward it from him.
Twenty-one slow days must pass be
fore the rapturous event; twelve had
gone when Sam reported that symp.
toms of the great change were ap-
pearing in his 'snake," which he had
taken to his home. (They had dis
carded the term hair on the second
day.
Eyes, sir" said Sam, "he's turned all
round in the bottle from the way he
was layin' yesterday; kind of looks
like he was restless, to me. And
there's sumpthing like little bubbles on
him up at the end where his heads
goin' to be-"
The hair in Periods bottle had nc
such accomplishment for its owner to
vaunt; he looked coldly at Sam, and
began to whistle.
Eyes, SIR" Sam went on, with per
haps too much JUNCTION, that snake
Of mine looks to me like it was goin
to make a mighty fine snake!"
"Well. I don't know" Penrod said
sighting. 81 like 'em kind of quieter.'
Nor did the fact that his treasure ex'
| hibit no tokens of the transition dis
turb him in any way, except thus tC
rouse his champsnage. No slightest
doubt ever Swallowed his ardent con
fdence; never for one instantl Tad
poles became frogs; caterpillars make
themselves into cocoons; and cocoon:
are really butterflies; he had owned
e~cocoons that showed no change in ap
pearance until the very hour of the
butterflies emergence. The hair in the
bottle looked every day more and
more like an attractive young snake
and by the time Penrod discovered
that the t~hirty-second of July would
really be the first of August, it seem
ed to him that it almost vas a snake
already.
The final week of the three was one
of internal excitement, heightening al
most unbearably as the climax ap
preached. Then, the first of Angus
dawned fair and cool; no sweetel
birthday could have been selected ii
all the year. Penrod woke with the
Joyous feeling that riches had come tt
him in his snake.
AS his eyes opened and fell upon The
bottle, bathed in morning sunshine or
the chair by his bed, he stared will
JOY. The hair had altered it's position