True, It Was Colourless, But Silvery Bright, Soft As
Satin To The Touch, Crinkling When Handled With A Sound That To The
Startled Fancy Recalled The Dangerous Living Hiss From The Dry
Rustling Grass!
I would clutch my prize with a fearful joy, as if I
had picked up a strange feather dropped in passing from the wing of
one of the fallen but still beautiful angels.
And it always increased
my satisfaction when, on exhibiting my treasure at home, the first
sight of it caused a visible start or an exclamation of alarm.
When my courage and strength were sufficient I naturally began to take
an active part in the persecution of serpents; for was not I also of
the seed of Eve? Nor can I say when my feelings towards our bruised
enemy began to change; but an incident which I witnessed at this time,
when I was about eight, had, I think, a considerable influence on me.
At all events it caused me to reflect on a subject which had not
previously seemed one for reflection. I was in the orchard, following
in the rear of a party of grown-up persons, mostly visitors to the
house; when among the foremost there were sudden screams, gestures of
alarm, and a precipitate retreat: a snake had been discovered lying in
the path and almost trodden upon. One of the men, the first to find a
stick or perhaps the most courageous, rushed to the front and was
about to deal a killing blow when his arm was seized by one of the
ladies and the blow arrested.
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