episode 2

e. in those days I was as unmarried nb and ran it I heard that gon- I would after all , a bachelor , made another earth ce ... to look more ovely thought struck enty of money and a milly mistake and ne ! on the table. There si rubber tube had at I would turn around back of the chair I didn't jump. I didn't tremble. I didn't cry out. There was no time to do any such thing. The snake slithered along my shoulder and coiled around my left arm above the elbow . The hood was spread out and its head was hardly three or four inches from my face ! It would not be correct to say merely that I sat there holding my breath. I was turned to stone . But my mind was very active. The door opened into darkness. The room was surrounded by darkness . In the light of the lamp I sat there like a stone image in the flesh. I felt then the great presence of the Creator of this world and this universe. God was there. Suppose I said something and He did not like it. I tried in my imagination to write in bright letters outside my little heart the words ' O God ! " . There was some pain in my left arm. It was as if a thick leaden rod - no , a rod made of molten fire - was slowly but powerfully crushing my arm. The arm was beginning to be drained of all strength. What could I do? At my slightest movement the snake would strike me! Death lurked four inches away. Suppose it struck, what was the medicine I had to take? There were no medicines in the room. . I forgot my danger and smiled feebly at myself . It seemed as if God appreciated that . The snake turned its head . It looked into the mirror and saw its reflection . I do not claim that it was the first snake that had ever looked into a mirror. But it was certain that the snake was looking into the mirror. Was it trying to make an important decision about growing a mustache or using CYC shadow and mascara or wearing a vermilion spot on its forehead?