The Mysteries of the Court of London, Vol. 7 — page 370: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

es eee et a ae LOTR I A Rs IO LING CM, SR aR ree TTS ae = ee or Ge lee eee ee were R het eo Cee oe eee oe eee ey ee THE MYSTRRIES OF THE COURT. 22mg Gey ~ rer ge es a A duistes Gre burnt in her large dark eyes as she proechedethe case containing the deadly cobra. He darted his head somewhat forward, as if with an inveterate malignity longing to spring at her, but yet witb the instinctive knowledge that there was a barrier of glass between them and that he would only sustain a hurt by dashing himself in- effectually against that transparent frontage. The calm intrepidity of ten thousand amagons was con- centrated in the soul of Sagoonah then! She glanced at the grrangements of the casea: she saw that the glaes fronts were made to slide up and down, but that they were fastened by atnal!l brass padlocks, one of which was fixed on the top of every case. She tried the padtock above the case in whioh the cobra lay; aud as if Satan him. self had purposely lent his aid to further ber fout design, the padiock yielded to her hand. The keeper had either omitted to look it~or else had so slovenly done bia work ae not to see that the semi-circular bolt had not been thrust in far enough to ineet the lock itself. Bat whichever it were, the padlock was now removed by Sagoonsh’s hand; and again did her cyes flash forth the fire of triumph. Once more she sped to the entranee of the anake-house aod swept her Jookes around. Stiff the coast was altogethor clear; and she retraced her way towards the deadly cobra’s den. Then from beneath the folde of her garments ehe drew forth a amall bag of the thickest and strongest Icather, —a bag that was about large enough to contain a fowl! or smali ratint. She had so skufully arranged a piece of whipcord to pass along the top or open- ing, that it could be closed and drawn tight in the twinkling of an eye—just as a lady's reticule is made to shut. Thia bag she opened to a suitable width, and placed it in readiness to receive the reptile. Then without the slighteat fear—without even so much as the faintest sensation of a curdiing of the blood—ashe lifted the glass with her left hand, —having her right in readiness to use at the moment that should seem advisable. The reptile appeared to watch for a few instants the ascending glass, as if it were something to which it was totally unac- customed: for be it well understood that the glasses of those cascs were never raised while the reptiles were in them, and only when they bad been driven or lifted into an adjoining empty case by a stout wire passed through a small hole at the top. Thus the cobra now seemed to follow with its cold vibrating eyes the ascending glass, as if it were something that struck it with o vague terror: then it closed its hood—turned its heal round— and began to glide to the back part of the casa. Nut more quickly could tho reptite itself have darted at Sagoonah than was ber right hand thrust into the case; and ere her eye could wink sho had elutch&d the serpent by the neck, but eo close to its head that it eould not possibly turn its mouth sufficiently so as to touch her finger even qith its tongue. Ite tail was instantaneously coiled round Sagoonsh’s dark but admirably modelled arm : but in another moment the head of the reptile was forced into the opening of the bag. A partial drawing of the string constricted the opening to the limit of the reptile’s dimensions, so that it could not turn its head to bite as it gradually glided through her loosening grasp; and just as the point of its tail slipped through her palm, the Ta Eee ES Rees A Ei eye —_— a Sees tele (hE —eeke OY Tee que "eee | iin 0 - Sethe ew are « Se ere Legare ® & © Beh) eae etapa 869 Rs pCO HEB wr ph cove Leb Uptin Abe: Wy =—r ge equPageieies &tggeergs<.-ay— > atting was drawn completely tight. b then lowered the glass to within about an inch of the bottom of the case,—thus giving it the appearance as if the serpont itself by its own afforte had raised it thus far; and she aped to rejoin her mistress and Christina,-tho leathern bag with its frarfat contenta, being conecaled under her garments. Ste had not been altogether separated from the Prin« cess and obr heroine more than Ove minutes befure she thus overtook them: and it was with a dae. mesnour as calm and collected aa if nothing at all extraordinary had taken placo. Our young heroine had been shooked and elck. ened by the contemplation of the reptiles; she felt faint—ehe looked very pale-and the Princess In- dora accordingly resulved to take her home at once. They were in the close ricinage of the revolving. gate which afforda egresa exactly oppowte the principal entrance: the carriage was in readiness —and thus within two or three minutes efter Sa- goonah had rejoined them, they were seated in the equipage onoe more. A quarter of an hour had probably olapaed from the departure of the Prinoess, when the pringipel leeeper of the anake-house, on entering the room, was smitten with horror on observing that the gines front of the cobra’s caso was raised, and that the cobra itself had disappeared. Thu cold per- epiration burat out of the man’s forehead; and he shuddersdewith a oonvulsing terror as the dreatful thought struck him that from some corner the deadly serpent might epring upun him. Bub the room ie ao srranged that a few momenta’ careful scrutiny is sufficient for the eyo to ponetrate into every nook; and the keeper, regaining somewhat of his self-possession, was thus enabled to aatiefy himself that the cobra wae not within that room, Hfe was a pradent man—he did not wish to excites a consternation amongst the visitors in the grounds: he closed the glass of the case, and aped sway to the superintending authority of the Gardens, This individual wae speedily on the spot: there was evi- dence to prove that the padlock had been negleoted by the under-keeper ; and the natural surmise was that the raptile, by dint of iteown musculer at- tion, had succeeded in paising the glass. The cie- cumstance wae whispured to anme of the most, frustworthy »f the men omployed 6n the grounde; and a eéarch was instituted for the missing snakes but it*in scarcely necessary to inform tho reader that this search terminated unsuccessfully. The matter was consequently hushed up: and to those who inquired what had become of the cobra, the response was given that it had died. CHAPTHR LEI. THES CORBA. Tre Princess, Christina, and Sagoonah returned to the villa; and by the time of their arrival, oar heroine's indisposition had passed off. She ex. pressed » hope thet her Highness would not accuser her of any foolish affectatiun; and indura has tened to reassure her on the point in the most friendly tesms. The hours passed on—it was close upom ten NOG SS