| Show SNAKES IN HIS BOOTS Much Gratified to FInd That They Were Real Serpents On at least one occasion I had snakesin my boots said the man with the ret nose and It was no wild delirious de-lirious fancy either The snakes were genuine They were very much alive could crawl and did crawl and they had eyes and fangs and forked tongues and all the other things which fro with It wellmade and complete member of the reptilian species I had gone out on a fishing trip with soihc friends up In Arkansas and we were quartered In a tent on one of 1iie I best lakes In the southeastern section of the State I was during the hot season 1 never saw so many snakes In all my life as we found around that lake ant they were of oil sizes shapes and colors The heat was so intense it was during dur-ing a severe drought of 1SS1 that all the snakes of that section gathered around the lake In an effort no doubt to keep cool They would slip down to the waters edge burrow in the mud and cut other curious capers because of the prevailing drought Late in the evening they would lake a whirl at swimming wriggling out Into the lake for some distance and then pull back to the shore again I mention these facts merely to show that snakes were plentiful in that section The heat had made them desperate but we never anticipated an-ticipated t any trouble I from this source We pitched our tent at the head of the lake and were Inclined to gloat somewhat over the splendid location chad c-had secured and the coziness of our surroundings generally OC course we had the usual quantity of stimulating stimulat-ing things which belong to a firstclass fishing outfit and to tell the truth about the matter I had been pulling away at the jug and popping beer bottles bot-tles until I was just a little shaky After Aft-er we had been out about a week I begun to see things that a man under ordinary circumstances could not see I was just In this condition one morning when 1 rolled out of my cot to begin the days sport The sun had been up for some time My boots were standIng stand-Ing beside the cot where I had put them the night before Tn throwing my legs over the side oC the cot t knocked both boots over You can guess how 1 1 felt when two or three snakes wriggled out of my boots I simply went up In the air My nerves were in no condition to be tampered with I couldnt get out of the cot and I couldnt stay in It 1 simply felt like melting Into thin air One or my friends witnessed the whole thing although I didnt know it at the time I was shamed to Hay anything about the snakes until he brought the question ques-tion I up Finally he said something about snakes that had spent the night in my boots and 1 swear to you that 1 never felt hotter in my life for up to that lime T was very I much in doubt about the genuineness of the vision I was glad to ImO that the snakes were reallive cHVashlngton Star |
