10 THE FLORAL TELEGRAPH. 
with my cane, I remembered this 
myself; and, thinking it a very femi¬ 
nine method of carrying on a siege, 
I was determined to enter by assault. 
So, gathering up all my forces for a 
coup de dos, I made a charge back¬ 
wards, with a more than wished-for 
success : for, though I carried the 
post, which, by the by, fell upon me 
in my fall, I found myself carried 
literally into a bed of roses, and, 
whilst I remained in my recumbent 
position, I felt that roses have thorns. 
A huge and beautifully - speckled 
snake crawled from under me, which, 
rising upon its coils, seemed at first 
inclined to do battle with the storming 
