Side Show Studies | Page 6

wise guy took one look at them and
fled, and the snake man would have carried it off all right, only he was
so busy calling a few choice names after him that he placed the snake
back in the cage instead of throwing it in, and the rattler struck him
before he could draw his hand out. He had a clown make-up on, so I
couldn't tell whether he was pale or not when he came to me a few
minutes later and held out his hand, but there was a queer expression on
his face and I knew that my apprehensions had not been groundless.
"There were just two little red dots, no bigger than pin heads, on the

back of his hand.
"'You got it, didn't you?' says I.
"'Good and plenty,' says he. 'My arm hurts me already.'
"We got busy right away and took him up to the hospital where
Bonavita is now. Say, he was a very thin man and you can see that I'm
no lightweight; but by midnight the right side of his body and his right
arm and leg were swollen to my size, and in the morning all of the
swollen part was as black as a coal. He was suffering terribly, and I
tried to get hold of the Arab snake doctor but couldn't locate him, so I
wired to Rochester for Rattlesnake Pete. He came down and a mighty
interesting man he is, but he couldn't do anything which 'Doc' up at the
hospital hadn't done, and it was five days before my man was out of
danger. He was not a drinking man--I finished having drunkards around
my show a good many years ago--and the whiskey took right hold of
him and pulled him through. 'Doc' kept squirting some red stuff into his
arm, but it was the 'red-eye' which saved him--and that reminds me."
[Illustration: "The wise guy."]
He beckoned to the waiter and each one ordered his favorite antidote
for a possible snake bite.
"Did he return to the show?" asked the Stranger, after he had rendered
himself immune.
[Illustration: Noah listens to the tale of a Johnstown flood survivor.]
"He sure did; you couldn't keep him away, but he has never been fond
of snakes since. It is the same man whom you saw putting the group of
elephants through their paces to-night."
It was growing late, and the Proprietor announced that he was going to
show his wife a good husband and said good-night, but the Stranger
waited for the story which he saw was trembling upon his companion's
lips, and induced the sleepy waiter to bring a farewell dose of

snake-bite antidote. The man was unknown to him by name, but his
personality promised to be interesting, for his face spoke of good living,
the red of his complexion was evidently not entirely due to exposure to
the sun, and the little sacs under the eyes indicated that he was apt to be
the last of a convivial party to suggest breaking up.
He had listened to the Proprietor's stories with the same bored
expression which Noah might wear in hearing the experiences of a
survivor of the Johnstown flood, and he looked regretfully at the vacant
chair, now that his turn had come.
"Snakes!" he exclaimed with a contemptuous snort. "What does the
boss know about 'em? I used to own the only snake that was worth
having. Ever hear of 'Big Pete'?" The Stranger confessed his ignorance,
and the other settled back in his chair and lighted a fresh cigar.
"I'll tell you about him, then. You know that a snake is a queer
proposition in a menagerie. They get sore mouths--canker the fakirs
call it--and won't eat, and then, if you've got any investment in 'em you
want to get it out mighty quick, for they are no orchids. I was pretty
well on my uppers, after a bad season on the road, when a guy named
Merritt came to me and said he could get a fine snake cheap, and he
thought we might make some money out of him by showing him to the
Rubes at the county fairs.
"What I didn't know about snakes would have filled a book, but when I
saw this one I knew it was a bargain. It was the blamedest biggest
snake that ever gave a wriggle, and the only reason its owners had not
made a fortune was because it was never properly advertised. I used to
know just how much he weighed and how long he was, but my brain
got so tired figuring up the money we made out of him that I've had no
memory for figures since.
"Well, as I said, I was pretty hard up, but I