A NIGHT WITH A SNAKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 237, 3 October 1908, Page 15

A NIGHT WITH A SNAKE.

HOW A SOLDIER SAVED A PRISONER'S LIFE. The Paris "Eclair" tells a blood-curdling serpent story, the scene of which was the Island of Martinique, and the dramatis personae Sergeant Legrand and Private Durand and the snake —a deadly lance-head. The soldier had been punished with a night in the cells for some trivial offence, but, as the nght was very hot, the sergeant had left the door open. In the morning, at 5 o'clock, Legrand went to take his prisoner, and to his horror beheld a lance-head snake colled up and fast asleep on the mail's breast. The sergeant did not lose his presence of mind. He stole noiselessly away, ran to the guardroom, and, followed by the men on duty, returned to the cell with A BOWL OF MILK AND A TIN WHISTLE. Placing the bowl of milk at the entrance to the cell, the sergeant began to play the "Blue Danube." It is needless to remark that the weakness of the lance-bead is milk aud music. The serpent, which was a sixfoot specimen, invoke, glided from tlie soldier's body towards the bowl; but it had uo sooner buried its head in its beloved drink than ten cudgels descended on it with terrific force, killing it outright. The soldier Durand, who was in a swoon, was taken to the hospital, where he lay for many days ou the verge of madness. lie anally recovered, and related his horrible experiences; how he had awoke in the middle of the night, as the serpent was coiliug Itself on his bare breast, and how he had lain there in agony for hours, not daring to move a muscle. Durand was sent back to France as soon as he had recovered sufficiently. "The only trace of his terrible experience," adds 'the "Eclair," "is that his hair is now snowwhite."