36 
ALMOST HUMAN 
of the cage to meditate his next move. Thus the fight went on furiously. 
Attack and counter-attack came repeatedly, and although the snake was 
apparently as quick as lightning, puss was always quicker. The noise 
of the conflict attracted the attention of the keepers, and when they saw 
it was a real case of the biter being bitten they at once set to work to 
free the dauntless fighter. Puss needed no second invitation to leave 
the cage, but although he was glad to quit fighting, he was quite 
unscathed. The snake, on the contrary, had a badly battered nose, and 
bore the marks of the thrashing he had received until he sloughed that 
skin. 
THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA. 
The head keeper at the Zoo places a very different construction 
upon the meaning of the words “The horns of a dilemma” from the ordinary 
one, and well he might. Mr. Brown calls the dilemma a goat. 
A great python one day woke up, remarkably hungry. He was 
hoping for a sheep, or a lamb, or a small deer, or some such delicacy. 
Unfortunately for him, it was considered expedient to give him a goat 
for his dinner, so towards nightfall the doomed animal was put into his 
cage and left there. Next morning, they found that the serpent had 
developed a most suspicious eye, and was regarding the goat with any- 
thing but a friendly expression. He disliked the look of the formidable 
horns so greatly that he had not attempted to touch the quivering creature. 
The goat was taken away, and replaced at night-time; but next morning, 
and the next, they found that the python had preferred remaining hungry 
rather than come to conclusions with the animal. The fifth morning the 
keepers encountered a most amazing sight. The snake had screwed his 
courage to the sticking place and had despatched his prey, so, like the 
young lady of Riga, who went for a ride on a tiger, the goat was inside — 
but the horns were not. The snake could do nothing with those unneces- 
sary adornments, but as they were still attached to their grower’s skull, 
he was in a very sorry plight. His jaws were still stretched to breaking 
point, his neck was still incorporated with his body, and thus they were 
likely to remain unless some means of relieving him could be devised. A 
hasty conference of keepers resulted in two of them volunteering to under- 
take what must surely have been the strangest task of their lifetime. 
They armed themselves with saws, went back to the distressed diner, and 
sawed off the horns of the swallowed goat. With every sign of manifest 
relief the python at once finished his meal, coiled himself up and went 
to sleep for three or four months to forget his most uncomfortable 
