ersonality 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 had this sparkler left for
'fall money,' and when I saw that snake I pushed it over my uncle's
counter." He pointed to a large yellow diamond in his scarf, and the
Stranger tried to make a mental calculation of a pawnbroker's valuation
of it.

"Merritt managed to dig up some mazuma, and we chipped in fifty apiece
and became the proud possessors of Big Pete. If I had been wise to the
business I would have known there was something wrong to make him sell
so cheap, but we more than got our money back out of him the first week,
so we had no kick coming. The newspaper boys were good to us and gave us
a lot of space, and we were playing on velvet and had Pete besides. It
wa