broke its neck turning around to
admire itself and everything went lovely. Of course, there was the usual
howl from the snakologists who knew it all, and 'Old Subscriber,'
'Citizen,' 'Pro Bono Publico' and the rest of the bunch wrote columns to
the newspapers, denouncing us as frauds.

[Illustration: _Grace snarled over the cubs._]

"You know how those things work; everybody puts up an argument and then
it's up to the fellow who is making the bluff to back it up with an
offer to donate a sum of money to some charitable institution if he
can't deliver the goods. We were well ahead of the game as a result of
the advertising and had about two thousand to the good and Merritt got
awful chesty. He had lied about that snake so much that he believed in
it himself and it made me a little nervous one night when he offered to
donate two thousand dollars to the 'Home for Decrepit Side Show Fakirs'
if any one could produce another specimen like this one, short of the
head waters of the Amazon. I wasn't scared so much by that as by what I
feared he might say, for I knew they couldn't get another if they raked
the universe with a fine-tooth comb, and sure enough, he was carried
away by his enthusiasm and offered to bet our entire bank roll that the
snake was a genuine 'American flag', such as had never been exhibited in
any country.

"It was just our luck that there was a half-loaded tin-horn gambler in
the audience that night; one of the kind that wears a yellow diamond and
a checked suit with a white stove-pipe hat; and the only part of the
speech that he understood was that somebody wanted to make a bet. That
raised his sporting blood, and he climbed up to the platform and pulled
out a roll of yellow boys that would choke a dog and peeled off twenty
centuries.

"'I don't know much about snakes which bromide won't make chase
themselves back to the woods,' says he as he plunked 'em down on the
table. 'I ain't got your gift of gab, but money talks and I've got this
pile to say that you can't tell the truth to save your neck. Just stack
up your pile alongside of that and then trot out your snakelet.' I was
feeling pretty sore on Merritt for making such a bluff, but, of course,
we had to make good and between us we covered the bet. We had glass
cages full of snakes all around the platform, but 'Old Glory' was in a
big chest covered with gilt figures and brass chains and fastened with a
padlock. Merritt was mad clear through at hav