Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 67 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

8: ee = | EET eT CHAPTER VIIL (DPD RATTLESNAKE — THE SNAKE-CHARMER’S HOME—A LOATHSOME SPECTACLE—BERENICE’S FLIGHT. BERENICE’S sensations were not all illusive. The music was a reality. it proceeded from a sort of hautboy, in the wands of a strange-looking old man, whom Bere- mice had approached without seeing. Judging from his sallow, wrinkled skin, and meglected gray beard and hair, he might have wen pronounced sixty or seventy years old; but in fact he was not over fifty. His dregs and accouterments were rather odd in which he lived. d Oxford collegian’s cap, with d tassel. His coat was almost a gown in length and looseness, and was full of lmrge pockets, which now contained plants, or Wits of rock, or birds which he had shot with a donble-barreled shot-gun slung to his back bya strap. One of these pockets held a variety of birds’ eggs, protected by a feathery moss. In another was perhaps a score of little snakes, iharmless by reason of their infancy. Toa belt about his waist, under his long coat, were strung three or four large rattlesnakes, which eniled about his legs or hung pendent at pleas- “re At the moment when we introduce him to the weader, he was playing a weird melody on a mmich-wern reed instrument, with his eyes fixed an the reptile that threatened Berenice’s life. The snake yielded to the charm of the music. coil relaxed some of its tension. The head wose higher and began to oscillate in time with Wie rhythm of the strange melody. Presently the serpent uncoiled his body and gited up to the musician. Without stopping the melody, the snake- ebarmer ey out his hand and ran it along the body of the fe oro reptile. e snake showed no signs of repulsion, but ‘ay still, like a domestic animal receiving a ca- TESS. The music, which had swelled wildly at times, now became low and exquisitely pathetic, while _ the man’s hand closed about the neck of the snake , with a firm, steady pressure. ' "The reptile seemed to sink into an ecstatic ce. Presently the music became a single prolong- note, very low and sweet. The charmer watched the reptile narrowly. The snake moved restlessly. The melody began again, more exquisitely pathetic, if possible, than before. The hideous monster once more yielded to its charm. Ata second tvial«the snake showed no signs at arousing. Then, having both hands free, while the instrument was held between his lips, Mid Rattlesnake (for that was the name this strange old man had received) drew forth a lgnife or lancet, with a spoon-shaped blade, but | wery small. By a skillful pressure of the finger and thumb | mf the left hand the snake’s mouth was opened. Then by a quick movement of the lancet the weptile was rendered harmless by the removal of its venom-sac. Instantly the snake-charmer dropped his lan- eet and began a succession of wild cadences on ‘is. bautboy, while the reptile writhed about his wrist and forearm, he holding it by the neck, so that it was powerless to bite him. After. a time it once more succumbed to the geil of his music. Then Old Rattlesnake exam- med its mouth critically, and the poison sac as well:.and having satisfied himself that bis work was ofectially done, strung it to his belt with the others. The old. snake-charmer now advanced and Sent over the unconscious Berenice. The first glance into her pale face caused him % start violently. “ Ah!” he ejaculated, with a sort of gasp. ‘Then, kneeling and lifting her limp hand—** So “nir'—so delicate! Agatha! Agatha! in her ‘thon seemest to live again! If she were but thy shilid— Ah! what am I saying?” 4 sad humor gathered in his eyes as he gazed m@the girl. Then he murmured: “Por thy sake I will care for her more ten- ¥ertv than but for the resemblance. Js it alto- her fancied?’ And lifting the limp form in his arms, he be- omg to pick ¥ te among the rocks toward s sequestered abode, Ever and anon he paused, to lift the head with its wealth of sun-lit hair from his shoulder, ant cane into the still, white face. As often he Miriaurods Bea ‘So like, sweet And with the sig sadly and walk on. Presently he reached a low-roofed hut, rudely built, and yet a shelter from the storm, It was all overgrown with creepers, and but a ste from its doorway was a garden-patch, wi hotbeds, filled with what seemed to be speci- mens of flora of that part of the country. Not far distant was an artificial basin in which fisn of various kinds sported; and built partly within and partly without the house a wire oe, held its tribe of fluttering, twittering irds. From these surroundings we may infer that Old Rattlesnake was a naturalist, though his unusual familiarity with the most venomous of reptiles had most impressed his rude neighbors, and had thus given him his sobriquet. Bearing Berenice into the hut, which every- where bore tokens of his life-passion, he laid her on a bed in the innermost of its two apartments, and stood gazing at her buried in melancholy thought. _ For a long time he stood thus; and when at last he suddenly awakened to the expediency of applying réstoratives, he discovered that her swoon had lapsed into an exhausted slumber, With a parent’s solicitude he examined the inflamed spots on face, neck and hands, which marked the stings of the hornets, and applied a cooling lotion to them. Then he left her and repaired to the other room, closing the door gently. He was much distressed in mind, evidently a prey to pay recollections, and often the name of Agatha escaped his lips uttered in the tender- est accents. After an interval of perhaps two hours, Ber- enice awakened from her slumber. With a sense of sangre upon her, she la perfectly still, to collect her thoughts and loo about before attempting to move. She was in an unfamiliar room, evidently having a man for its usual tenant, as was evi- denced by a Mexican saddle, a pair of top-boots and some mining implements on the floor, and several garments hanging inst the wall. So much for the sense of sight. Listening, she heard the strangest music that had ever greeted her ears. Its sad, sweet ca- dences induced a dreamy pean which disinclined her to move or do anything but listen. But she thought that this must be the owner of the room; and then, wondering how she came to be his guest, the scene on the cliff of the man rescuing her from her runaway horse gradually recurred to her, and then the cause of her ride—Arthur’s deadly peril ! And here she lay dreaming while Arthur might be dead! With a great heart-throbof remorse and dread she ifstantly rose from the bed, though every muscle of her body seemed stiff and sore. Was it Flash Lightning who had rescued her out there among the cliffs? If so doubtless he was just on the other side of the door. And vet, not certain who it might be, she went on tip-toe to reconnoiter before making herself heard. Peeping through a crack in the door, she wit- ceca a spectacle that froze her blood! Seated cross-legged in the middle of the floor, Old Rattlesnake was playing his strange music, while perhaps a half a score of loathsome rep- tiles lay their length at his feet, or coiled them- selves about his person. One, resting in his lap, had raised its head to a level with his face, and its sinuous body oscil- lated back and forth to the time of the music. Near at hand were open boxes in which the reptiles evidently were kept. ‘he snake-charmer was so engrossed with his pets as to be oblivious to evervthing else. He watched them with a rapt look of admiration and affection that was horrible in its unnatural- ness. To the sensitive girl who had never witnessed or heard of such a thing, this old man was a mouster even more loathsome, if possible, than his hideous play-things. The thought. occurred to her that he must have brought her to his house while she was un- conscious—that she must have been held in his arms—that her face, perhaps even her mouth ! had been in contact with his person! A cold shudder passed over her from head to foot. She experienced a horrible creeping sen- sation all over her body as if the clammy folds of those nauseous monsters were in actual con- tact with her flesh! In that moment of horror, when every nerve and every tissue sent forth its shuddering pro- tha!—dead Agatha! Ah/” , he would shake his head dle’s Tialf-Dime Library. ow — --_~ test of loathing—when all her nature shrunk back in utter detestation aud abhorrence, she forgot even Arthur’s peril in the one irresistible instinct of self-preservation. No, that does not express it. Had it been merely death, she could have given up her life for Arthur’s sake; but to have her flesh in act- ual contact with the most repulsive thing cre- ated, or to touch one whose nature was such that he could voluntarily handle, nay, fondle ! anything so hideous—Ugh! she had but one thought—flight! A window offered her the means of escape. Noiselessly she glided through, and was free! But imagination pictured that man-monster hung with wriggling serpents, in pursuit, and taking no note of whither she was going, she fled aimlessly. This dread of being overtaken and dragged back to the snake-charmer’s den, acted as an ever present spur, and her excessive fear made her waste the fictitious strength which that very fear lent her; so that when, after perhaps an hour’s exhaustive flight, she h a ste behind her and a voice calling to her, she down utterly helpless. The step came nearer, though sounding far away; she heard with muffled indistinctness the voice; she felt the touch of a hand on her shoul. der; and without lifting her face from where it was buried in her hands, she fainted away with terror and weakness. CHAPTER IX. A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER! DurinG Arthur Hamilton’s stay in the cave under Berenice’s care, Aunt Sue’s mania had received a new impetus. The brooding melan- — choly which had clouded her life ever since Berenice’s earliest recollections of her was suc- ceeded by a quickening of all her faculties which made her a ve erent sort of person. Laboring under the ucination that Arthur was her husband, whose life had been attempted by a rival for her love, she gave him every at- tention—indeed, so much so as to interfere with that more exclusive enjoyment of Berenice’s society which he would have preferred. But as he became convalescent, the vividness of this impression seemed to abate somewhat, so that he was left freer to gratify his predilection for the younger woman. So matters stood when Arthur rushed into the cave, hotly pursued by Patent-leather Joe. Instantly Aunt Sue’s hallucination sprung up again in all its intensity. She saw her husband fleeing for his life, pale with excitement, and with blood streaming over his face from s wound on the side of his head. She saw Patent-leather Joe tear aside the cur. tain and fire again at his victim, just as Arthur a his weapon and turned to defend him- self. Blindly Arthur fired a return shot, which flew wide of its mark, staggered a step forward, and sunk upon his knees. With a mocking laugh, Patent-leather Joe raised his weapon for a finishing shot. But at that instant Aunt Sue sprung upon him with a cry like that of a wounded tigress. His bullet was flattened against the rocky walls of the cavern, and he felt his face being torn by the nails of the fury. Bewildered by the fierceness and unexpected- ness of this assault, he dropped his weapon in the effort to disembarrass himself. To overcome the maniac’s artificial strength and activity was no slight task: and before he could hurl her from him, she had injured one of his eyes and lacerated his face, so that be- ane the pain and the blood he was nearly ind. He sought to draw the revolver remaining in his belt; but with the quickness of a cat she snatched it from its holster; and when he gr0p- ed for the weapon that had fallen to the floor, her ready foot kicked it beyond his reach. ‘You accursed devil’s cat!” he _ snarled through his grating teeth, “why have I let you live so long!” : And drawing his bowie-knife with one hand, while he wiped the blood out of his eyes with the other, he advanced upon her with the gri- mace of a baffled fiend. The woman, overcome by a sudden panic, cowered beside Arthur , and, staring at their as- sailant with eyes distended by insanity and ter- ror, cried: ‘‘Murderer of my husband!—abductor of mv child!—have you not committed wickedness enough? Away!—away/—away!” ecoim JOO cS (S nel - ~~ Smee el P : ;