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Show all ales As told lo: ELMO FRANK E. d SCOTT HAGAN WATSON : Sagacious Serpent tjVrES," said Madame Zulawa, 1 the snake-charmer with the old Robinson circus, "Elmer was by far the most intelligent and most versatile serpent 1 ever had. lie was a bluck.nake six feet of patience, pa-tience, pliability and perspicacity. I could call out any number and Instantly In-stantly he'd arrange himself in the form of that figure. Ilis figure eights were a model of rounded symmetry. But all of this was before be-fore one horrible night ..." "Our circus train was crossing the high Sierras. Just as It was approaching the summit, Elmer slid out of his cage and started back orer the tops of the cars. lie wa.s coming back to my car for a cup of warm coconut milk. "Just as he stretched over the gap b :tween two cars, there was the sound of Iron snapping. The coupling between the two cars had broken under the strain of pulling the heavy cars up that steep grade. In another moment the rear half of the train would be speeding down the Incline, until It Jumped the rails at the first curve. "Elmer knew that everything depended de-pended upon him. Quick as a flash he sank his teetti In the wooden top of the car ahead. At the same moment mo-ment he wraoped his tall around an iron rod on the car buhlnd. The strain on him was fearful, but he bung on grimly . . . "Well . . . there Isn't much more to tell. The whole train pussed safely over the summit. Hut YA-mer'g YA-mer'g days en a performing black-snake black-snake were over. Co to the Cincinnati Cin-cinnati zoo today and you'll find him there In a cage labeled 'The Only lilack I'ytlion In Captivity . . . 42 feet. 0 Inches long." . O WWm NflWftw Union. |