"Thank you. Of course, you all know the long descent into Blaauw Krantz, and the sharp elbow bend in the wood near the bottom before the steep fall into the river. Of course. Well, I have been in the habit of riding out on Saturday evenings to visit a farmhouse on this side, and, as a precautionary measure, I ring the bell continuously while riding down the slope." Abe arrested the narrative by a gesture--"Whatjer carry a bell for?" he asked, suspiciously. "To warn people ahead. You see," with a slight movement of the eyelids, "I travel so fast that I am obliged to herald my approach." "Better carry a trumpet," growled Abe. "Well, ring along." "You are doubtless aware," continued the stranger, with a keen look at the old man, "that snakes are sensitive to the influence of music." "I've marked that circumstance," said Abe, with a lingering on the word. "Why there's a snake in our Chapel as beats time to the `Ole Hundred,' and many a time I've--" "Oh! shut up," said Long Jim. "You were saying, sir--" "My bell," continued the stranger, speaking more rapidly and keeping his eye on Abe, "has a most melodious tinkle, and on the second occasion of my visit to the house I have mentioned I noticed just at the elbow bend what appeared to be the head and neck of a large snake thrust out from the bush. On my next visit I observed the same spot more carefully, and saw that I had not been mistaken. On three separate occasions that snake was there, evidently attracted by the music of the bell." "Why--" began Abe. "I understand what you mean," exclaimed the stranger. "Why did I not stop? Because I was travelling too fast; and whenever I returned up the hill, going naturally slower, I could never see the slightest trace of the snake. To come to the climax, this morning I sounded the bell as usual, and on nearing the bend I saw that there were two snakes, and that one of them, in order probably to hear the music more distinctly, had glided partly into the road with his head raised about three feet. To take the bend I was obliged to keep on the outer edge, which brought me closer to the snake than I could wish--and evidently too close for his comfort--for as I whizzed by he lost his presence of mind, and, instead of retreating, advanced, with the result that his head and neck went through the spokes of the front wheel." "Front wheel!" said Abe with a snap. "Certainly--the front wheel of the bicycle." "A bysticle!" ejaculated Abe, with a snort of disgust that would have sent us into an explosion of laughter if we had not been too much absorbed in the story.