White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1918-01-06
75e Young biologists
psnrod and Sam Have > Three Weeks Thriller
With q Horse Hair Snake

BY BOOTH

- &1614e o"aJ
go and be getting the bottles ready TO
put EN- In. +"
mo. CDR !" Sam insisted. "You start
ed to pull 'em and you ought to do
1t. | didn't start to pull 'em, did II
snow, see here" Penrod became
argumentative.
You better quit talkin' so much.'
Sam interrupted doggedly. "Go ahead
and pull those two hairs out of his old
tall or pretty soon the man1l come out
and drive him away, and then where1l
we bef You started to do 1t, and SO
It's your business to-"
swell, | am goin' to, amt II
"Nowi" Sam exclaimed. Hes quit
lookln' at us. Quick"
Selling this opportunity, Penrod
ventured the deed and was reward
ed. The elderly horse seemed to have
forgotten his animosity in a fit of de-
preston he hung his head, and mark
ed the %ravishment by nothing
more than a slight shudder.
Prelimlnaries to the great expert
ment were worked out with grave
care. The largest empty bottles obtain
able We're selected. cleaned, and filed
with fair water. Then, with BETTING
solieitude, the two long black hairs
were lowered into the water, and the
bottles were corked. After that, q
label was pasted upon each, exiib-
ting the owners name and address.
The fascinating work was not COM
plete, however. Penrod paid a visit
10 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
eyelen o'clock July II Snak comes six
teen minutes of evelen o'clock July 81"
Penrod took his bottle to his room
that night 1t stood close by his bed
side throughout the long dark hours /;
and once, waking suddenly. he groped
for II 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 a~nxiously 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 q somewhat
definite picture of the little compap-
Ion soon to be his; he was sure II
would have brown eyes-admlring
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, n
gentle and warming affection emanat-
Ing toward 1t 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.)
"Yes. sir" said Sam. hes 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
goln' to be-"
The hair in Penrod's bottle had no
such accomplishment for its owner to
yaunt he looked coldly at Sam. and
began to whistle.
Eyes, SIR" Sam went on, with per
haps too much JUNCTION. shat snake
of mine looks to me like II was goin'
to make O mighty fine shaker
"well, I don't know" Penrod said,
sighting. II like 'em kind Of Quieter.'
Nor did the fact that his treasure e
hibit no tokens Of the transition dis
turb him In any way, except thus TO
| rouse his championage. No slightest
doubt ever Swallowed his ardent con-
fdence; never for n instantl Tad
poles became frogs; caterpillars max
themselves into cocoons: and cocoons
are really butterflies; he had owned
cocoon that showed no change In APP
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 thirty-second Of July would
really be the first Of August. 1t seem
ed to him that II almost was a snake,
already.
The final week of the three was one
of Internal excitement frightening al
most unbearubly as the climax ap-
preached. Then, the first of August
dawned fair and cool; no sweeter
birthday could have been selected In
| all the year. Penrod woke with the
Joyous feeling that riches had come to
him In his snake.
As his eyes opened and fell upon the
bottle. bathed In morning sunshine on
the chair by his bed, he stared with