| OCR Text |
Show AN EAST-INDIAN QHOST. It Proved to He w llon-Cnnalrlctor Twenty leet fn f.etigtti. ' Almost every tewn or vlllago has Its haunted house nnd tho llltio Iilago settlo-montof settlo-montof Wanda, In India, was no exception. Hero a number of English odlccrs and thclt families livo during tho warmer months, returning to tholr rcspcctlvo eommandc later on, Tho rumor thut Captain lleau champ's houso was haunted was circulated byn scrvnnt-a suporslltlous old Englishman English-man who had followed llio Captair all over tho world, nnd vs, all things considered, a faithful servitor. Thomas had for somo ihi s heard curious sounds about tho house. At first ho thought thero wero rntsormlca lu j thowalL llowasnunkcned ono night by a most oxtraordlnnry nnlso. llio door-bell ! was ringing violently, mid a struggling, ' writhing nolso In tho wall of tho houso-not houso-not In ono place, but In sevi'ral at unco. This wns followed by n cottiplcto silence, ind n Thomns sat up lu boil, hli hair threatening to aland on end, ho was posl-llvo posl-llvo ho henrd n long-drawn sigh This was tho last feather Hn, lonpuig from tho Much, ho rushed lohls employer n imuii and aroused him, avowing that thoplncowas linuntcd, nnd h, few moments uler tho on-III on-III n household was lu t la as room. 'I ho notoriety so damply carried becamo exceedingly disngiueablo First oamo strangers, nntlvus mid others, ho stood lu front of tho houso day nnd night nud looked t It Willi wondering curiosity. Matters stood In tlhslmpo for noini" days, when ono morning t pat ly of Jugglers passed through tho town nud Dually reached the haunted houso As thero wero n number of children In llio family llio performers woro Invited Into thogrnuudsnndgavo tin ontortntumcnl. Finally, as n winding up, one of them took out n small oval basket, having nil orlfleo In tbelop, and seating himself near It begxu to ploy a quaint air upoun tin to I After Industriously playing fur n few moments, mo-ments, says a correspondent of tho I'hlla delphla Times, up through llio holo In tho basket enmo tho head of n cobrn-ouo of the) most poisonous of snakes -up camo tho hideous head with Its hood that gavo n malignant nrpcarnnco to tho rcp'llo, and tthen twelvo or fifteen Inrhes above the basket It began to wave to and fro as If In obcdlcuco to tho measiim of the music i After tho snnko dance or tho snnko "charming," as Europeans nre wont to call It Uio Indian snake rhariner walked around ' tho houso and among tho bushes pointed ' , out a hole which might havo been mado by n ' rabbit. To ono of tho natlvo utletidants ho said that for a si.ikII sum extra ha would j takeout n cobra which ho thought was In ihoholo Tho Kngllsh rfll.er did not bo- 1 licvo It, but vrllllngly suhuiilled to tho ox periinent, and soatlng himself beforo the holo tho magician, began Inn mournful j plaint . i I For fifteen Qlnulcs ho kept up tho noise, and then from tho opening there appeared tho ugly, hood"d lioad of n cobra Auothci holowassoon found this being directly nt tho bate of tho wall of Ihohoune Thoinnti examinee' It u few momenta carefully, and then began, to play upon the flute I Hardly ha 1 the group gal In ed about tho porformer lieforo n moil t einai liable nuiso camo trqm tho house Flint, there wub.i ' sound as of escaping steam, then n sound ! of somo great body striking tho wall nnd rubbing nguinst tho timbers Dust lu I clouds camo from tho hole and tho I "charmer" started back lu terror, over- ' turning tho man behind him Ilecovcring ' himself ho darted ut tho holo und thrusting Ids arm in drew out, not n cobra, butthu , tall of a much larger snake. Astonishment was depicted on tho natlvo'a faco and horror hor-ror In thoso of many of thn eectators, ns ho stood holding tho tip of ti.o tall, and llvo feetof the body was visible. j For n second tho uinu lieettutcd, then re- I Raining his cnurago he shouted lu Hindoo- I staneo for tho lookcison to stand back, I and taking a good grip upon tho tall ha pulled gradually backward Out It camo, foot by foot. Inch by Inch, f, 10, 13, 10 Ieet-lS, was there no endf IS foci of ipmerlng siin'jo flesh as large us n man's thigh. A quick Jerk now nnd tho entlie monster was clearnl least twonlv ft-l lu length bigenough to swallow a deer, nnd jet held by a slugin man. Tho natlvo was, however, not In llio least discouraged Ho clung to tho tall, nud as tho huge leptllo turned toward him with nn angty hiss he gavo it n swinging motion by turning slow I v flrad ually ho Increased hlssKeil, turning faster and faster, until lie seemed tho center of a wheel, tho spokes of whlelt were tho body uf llio python Ho inpl.l was tho motion that tho sn.iko'H body wiis perfectly straight, and It wns evident that as long as Uio motion cojld bo kept up tho man was tufo, but If tho monster could icach him ho would lu n iiioineut hn ci ualied lu I ha hor rible folds of the icptilx Tho lookers ou had long since fled, tho natives liiidgnno chileliiug up tho street, tlio Kiigllshiuan nlono slauding by, but oven ho did not know what to do, as 11 was impossible im-possible to shoot tho uiiimnlns it u-iis (lying around; so ho Blood u few niiiiutea uglinst at tho cut Ions position of the man It soon became apparent thul llio charmer know what ho was about. Not fur f rum llio liouso stood a stout ling st iff, u foot and a half through, uf solid tcukivom), nud toward ilus ho was grnduallr moving, whirling lbs auukn faster and faster Now lie was with la twenty-five feet uf it, find suddenly 11 dawned on the fowspectaton what ho was about to do. This was to strlko Uio bond of the rcptllo against thn jhile Nearer bo came, whirling fusler mid faster, until tho rcptllo stood out llko n whip I ihIi, and t lieu, wlthaqulck step forward, ho brought thn headof thoicplllongalnst tho wood with tt crushing sound, lloioleasod his hold and the great rcptllo doubled up fu conviw-s.TO conviw-s.TO folds, digging up tho cai th nud sending clouds of dust Into tho nlr, Anally dropping limp nnd lifeless to the gt mind. ,,( A wondering crowd soon surrounded tho dead boa, the now linivf. natives cxpicssmg thoir opinions ns to Its site Onn thing was ovldcnt-thnt here was tho "ghont ' The big snnko had in somo way obtained unit un-it ance to tho house, probably thtough the hole in tho foundation, nnd had produced tho mysterious sounds heard by tho men. Tho stiako-charmors had, as Is their general custom, placed a harmless cobt a in llio holo and beforo they had time to call It out It bad encountered 'ho big boa, Willi thn abovJ result. .- |
