189(i. 



THE AMERWAN BEE-KEEPER. 



163 



sell tnem to au old clothes man. 1 never 

 think of it, I van so forgetful. Why, to- 

 day I even forgot my tiuibrella. I never 

 had any head. ' ' 



"You hi'.ve no head? What do you 

 want VN-ith 2.S hats, then?" 



But at this moment a weeping wom- 

 an entered the police .station. It was 

 Mrs. Picket. She had heard from the 

 servant of the plight in which her luck- 

 less husband was placed and came and 

 told the police sergeant who he was and 

 that the hats were really his. But was 

 Picket grateful to her? Hardly. He 

 wished a th msaud times that she had 

 not heiu'd about his misadventure and 

 that he had .siicceeded in going through 

 all the pains and horrors of a police 

 court far rather than that she should 

 find him there with the 28 hats — 28 

 mute witue.'^ses cf her superior judgment 

 staring him in the face. He said to him- 

 self mentally, "Never shall I hear the 

 last of those 28 hats. " He never did. In 

 fact, he got it morning, noon and night. 

 He had it with breakfast, luncla and 

 dinner. He had it with his soup. He 

 had it with his nightcap. He had it 

 •with his morning slippers. And when- 

 ever the rain began falling and poor 

 Picket vs'culd incautiously say, "What 

 dreadful wearher!" "Ye.s, " Mrs. Picket 

 would reph", "exactly the same kind of a 

 day as when you got rid of your 28 

 hats. " — ban Francisco Argonaut, 



TWO S.XAKE STORIES. 



TOLD BY ^> GENTLEMAN WHO IS AWAY 

 UP IN SERPENTOLOGY. 



Snakes Thai. Fljoulcl Not Be Killed — How 

 the Black S.nake lluuts i;nd Captures Ita 

 Food^Resccing a Ship From a Python 

 Who Had Calmly Taken Possessiou. 



"Sit down and sharpen your pencil, 

 while I overhaul rjy mental shelves," 

 remarked Mr. Thompscu, curator of the 

 zoological collccticu in the park, in an- 

 swer to a request for some snake stories. 

 "Before giving you some of my experi- 

 ences I want to enter a protest against 

 the indiscriminate .slaughter of our cmi- 

 mon hai'inle^s snakes, such as the black 

 snake, garter snake and the like. Every 

 farmer should protect them, for they ai'e 



benenciai* msteaa oi being Harmful, a:-; 

 is generally supposed by a large major- 

 ity of humanity. Any naturalist will 

 tell you that the food of the black snake 

 consists largely of rats, mice, etc., while 

 that of the garter snake is principally 

 insects, such as grasshoppers, caterpil- 

 lars, etc. 



"Now for some of my experiences. In 

 my younger days I was crossing Ashby'.s 

 gap. over the Bhie Ridge, Virginia, in 

 company with an uncle of the famous 

 Black Horse Cavalry Ashby. We were 

 making a portion of the ascent through 

 quite a deep cut, when our attention 

 was attracted by a toad, which rolled 

 instead of hopped down the side slope. 

 Ashby pulled up the horse and said, 

 'There's a black snake after that fellow. ' 

 An in.<;taiit after the snake thru.st his 

 head throtigh the fence, and on observ- 

 ing us dri w back. In the meanvrhile the 

 toad had gathered himself together, and 

 was hopping at a lively gait up the road. 

 Ashby remj'.rked, 'Now I will .show you 

 something, " and sprang out of the buggy 

 and caught the toad, which he carried a 

 short distance and released. Returning, 

 he turned the buggy and drove back 

 down the road some 50 steps, when we 

 alighted and tied the horse. Climbing 

 over the fence on the opposite side cf the 

 road to that on which the snake had 

 made his appearance we stealthily work- 

 ed our way tip until we came in sight of 

 the point where he was first seen. Lying 

 down in the long grass and peering 

 through the rails, we did not have to 

 wnit long before the snake reappeared. 



"He looked about for a few seconds, 

 and then descended the slope down 

 which the toad had rolled, and followed 

 his trail up the road. On coming to the 

 spot where it had b?en picked uj), he 

 l^egan to circle, precisely as a dog would 

 act on losing the scent. He gradually in- 

 creased the size of his circles until he 

 struck the spot where the toad had been 

 put down, when he made a bee line 

 after it. We leaped into the road and 

 hurried after his snake.ship, who as soon 

 as he discovered that he was being fol- 

 lowed turned up tite slope and squirmed 

 nut of sight through the fence. Ashly 

 said, 'I am sure you are satisfied now 

 that a black snake hunts by scent. ' 



"Now I sliall have to take you out to 

 South Africa. I livi d in Durban, Natal, 



