THE SNAKE. 
209 
than to play pranks, which the dame has peremp- 
torily forbidden. 
In the village of Walton there is a cross road 
known by the name of Blind Lane. One summer's 
evening, as an old woman, named Molly Mokeson, 
was passing i:pp the causeway in this lane, a man, by 
name Wilson, saw a snake gliding onwards in the 
same direction. " Molly," said he, " look ! there s 
a snake running after you." She turned her head 
to see what was the matter ; and, on observing the 
snake approaching, fear seized her withered veins." 
After getting some twenty yards further up the 
causeway, she took refuge in a neighbour s house, 
and sat down in silent apprehension, not having 
breath enough to tell her troubles. In the mean 
time, Wilson had followed up the snake, and, being 
without a stick, he had tried repeatedly to kick it, 
but had always missed his mark. All of a sudden, 
the snake totally disappeared. Now, the true solu- 
tion of this chase is nothing more or less than that 
the snake had been disturbed by the old woman, 
and had taken its departure for some other place, 
but, on seeing a man coming up from behind, it had 
glided harmlessly along the path which the old wo- 
man had taken; and then, to save its life, it had 
|! slipped into the weeds in the hedge-bottom. 
I Nothing was talked of in the village, but how that 
f Molly Mokeson had been chased by the devil ; for 
the good people of Walton, wiser in their generation 
than the sages of Philadelphia, never dreamed of 
1 taking this animal for a real snake ; knowing full 
well that snakes are not in the habit of chasing men 
