earance before me at Shepherd's Hotel, and
despite his amazing natural impudence, which appeared to such splendid
advantage in the street that I always thought he must be a lineal
descendant of the brazen serpent himself, he evinced a certain timidity
which was to me inexplicable, until I recalled that the big snake of
Irish legends had shown the same modesty when Saint Patrick wanted him to
enter the chest which he had prepared for his prison. "Sure, it's a nate
little house I've made for yees," said the saint, "wid an iligant
parlor." "I don't like the look av it at all, at all," says the sarpent,
as he squinted at it suspiciously, "and I'm loath to _inter_ it."

Abdullah looked at the parlor as if he too were loath to "inter" it; but
he was in charge of one in whom his race instinctively trust, so I led
him in. His apparel was simple: it consisted of a coarse shirt, very
short, with a belt around the waist, and an old tarbouch on his head.
Between the shirt and his bare skin, as in a bag, was about a half peck
of cobras, asps, vipers, and similar squirming property; while between
his cap and his hair were generally stowed one or two enormous living
scorpions, and any small serpents that he could not trust to dwell with
the larger ones. When I asked Abdullah where he contrived to get such
vast scorpions and such lively serpents, he replied, "Out in the desert."
I arranged, in fact, to go out with him some day a-snaking and scorp'ing,
and have ever since regretted that I did not avail myself of the
opportunity. He showed off his snakes to the ladies, and concluded by
offering to eat the largest one alive before our eyes for a dollar, which
price he speedily reduced to a half. There was a young New England lady
present who was very anxious to witness this performance; but as I
informed Abdullah that if he attempted anything of the kind I would kick
him out-of-doors, snakes and all, he ceased to offer to show himself a
cannibal. Perhaps he had learned what Rabbi Simon ben Yochai taught,
that it is a good deed to smash the heads of the best of serpents, even
as it is a duty to kill the best of Goyim. And if by Goyim he meant
Philistines, I agree with him.

I often met Abdullah after that, and helped him to several very good
exhibitions. Two or three things I learned from him. One was that the
cobra, when wide awake, yet not too violently excited, lifts its head and
maintains a curious swaying motion, which, when