Âmona; The Child; and The Beast, page 9 by Louis Becke
<< Return to Title Details & Download10
THE SNAKE AND THE BELL
When I was a child of eight years of age, a curious incident occurred in the house in which our family lived. The locality was Mosman's Bay, one of the many picturesque indentations of the beautiful harbour of Sydney. In those days the houses were few and far apart, and our own dwelling was surrounded on all sides by the usual monotonous-hued Australian forest of iron barks and spotted gums, traversed here and there by tracks seldom used, as the house was far back from the main road, leading from the suburb of St. Leonards to Middle Harbour. The building itself was in the form of a quadrangle enclosing a courtyard, on to which nearly all the rooms opened; each room having a bell over the door, the wires running all round the square, while the front-door bell, which was an extra large affair, hung in the hall, the "pull" being one of the old-fashioned kind, an iron sliding-rod suspended from the outer wall plate, where it connected with the wire.
One cold and windy evening about eight o'clock, my mother, my sisters, and myself were sitting in the dining-room awaiting the arrival of my brothers from Sydney--they attended school there, and rowed or sailed the six miles to and fro every day, generally returning home by dusk. On this particular evening, however, they were late, on account of the wind blowing rather freshly from the north-east; but presently we heard the front-door bell ring gently.
"Here they are at last," said my mother; "but how silly of them to go to the front door on such a windy night, tormenting boys!"
Julia, the servant, candle in hand, went along the lengthy passage, and opened the door. No one was there! She came back to the dining-room smiling--"Masther Edward is afther playin' wan av his thricks, ma'am----" she began, when the bell again rang--this time vigorously. My eldest sister threw down the book she was reading, and with an impatient exclamation herself went to the door, opened it quickly, and said sh