THOSE HORSE-HAIR SNAKES 69 
the bet was promptly taken by several of the com- 
pany, the " dead-horse " story-teller being the first 
to rise to the bait. 
In a moment Amos had left the store, and with- 
in a half-hour (barely long enough for him to have 
reached his home and returned) he reappeared 
with a box containing the " proofs " of his remark- 
able statement. 
He won his bet, having introduced his sceptical 
hearers to the two prime authorities that knew 
more about hair snakes than all the rustic wise- 
acres or scientific professors put together, for his 
box was filled with grasshoppers and black crick- 
ets, including one or two specimens specially pre- 
served in a small vial of alcohol, to show the par- 
asitic snake coiled in its close spiral. 
