SNAKE AND FROG PRATTLE 237 



narrative is that the black boy formed the firm opinion 

 that that which he and two others had conchided to be 

 a snake must have been "'Nother kind. Him no good. 

 Close up 'debil-debil !' " To him a visible snake was 

 quite commonplace ; but one that vanished under the 

 impulse of a charge of shot represented a mystery 

 which called for caution and hasty departure, and the 

 boy strode away with the suggestion of hot bricks 

 below. But the tell-tale birds, suspicious of the material 

 only, returned, stared at the vacancy, and fluttered 

 off with — was it ? — a note of thankfulness. 



The serpent has one infallible, perhaps because it 

 is automatic, regard for its own comfort and well-being 

 — it cannot be induced to tie itself into a knot. It is 

 in mind that once in the old country a very long and 

 very cold lethargic boa constrictor became benumbed 

 and forgot the primal instinct of the family, and paid 

 for its absent-mindedness with its life. Bat the ordi- 

 nary snake under extraordinary conditions, whatso- 

 ever its length, is most careful to disentangle itself 

 even when knots are designed for the special purpose 

 of embarrassing it. Though the head of a snake be 

 battered until all apparent sense is obliterated, the 

 lithe body will cleverly evade attempts to cause it to 

 disregard the great law. However tight the corner 

 into which it may squeeze or narrow the quarters into 

 which it may be driven, and though head and tail may 

 be close together and in the midst of a complication 

 of coils, and the twisting and writhing may appear to 

 be without method, yet the snake emerges a triumph 

 of single purpose. 



A complication was presented to a 6 foot 8 inch 

 specimen, and truth bids me say that the snake did 

 not seem in the least bewildered. From a nest of eggs 

 six had disappeared in one night. The loss was debited 



