CHAPTER XXVII 



SNAKES AND SNAKE STORIES 



LOOPING THE LOOP, OR HANDCUFFED BY A BLACK SNAKE 

 BITTEN BY A RATTLER WATER SNAKE PULLS ITS OWN TAIL 

 OFF SNAKE EGGS WHICH HATCH INSIDE THE MOTHER 



RING SNAKES, GREEN SNAKES AND RED BELLIED SNAKES 



SQUIRREL TORMENTS A BLACK SNAKE LEGEND OF EVE*S 



WEDDING RING SLUG-EATING SNAKES A TURTLE, A 

 MOLE AND A ROBIN UNABLE TO EAT A SLUG SENSELESS 

 HORROR GREAT JUMPING JERUSALEM, OR THE POLICEMAN 

 AND THE PYTHON. 



I owned a little pocket image of the Sacred Ape. 

 It was sent to me from India by a missionary 

 friend of mine, who jokingly said, that it was a 

 very powerful fetish and if properly treated could 

 perform magical feats. We had been fishing, my 

 friend and I, we had been very lucky with bass, 

 pickerel and trout; each time before we cast a 

 line I took the sacred monkey from my pocket 

 and mumbling a string of meaningless words over 

 its head I implored it to give us luck. My friend 

 became very enthusiastic over the monk, as he 

 called it. This being his last day at Wild Lands, 

 he solemnly asked me to get him a rattlesnake. 

 At that time, although I had occupied Wild Lands 

 for a number of years, I had never seen or heard 

 a rattlesnake in the neighborhood, or any other 



399 



