A Witch Doctor’s Curse: Juju Snakes

Smith realized the snake was an African horned viper and it was the first one he had seen. He cut off the reptiles head and placed it in his cigarette tin.

When his cook saw the viper's head, he paled with terror. The cook told Smith that evil would follow his feet. The Juju man had guardians, the African horned vipers. He told his employer that he should get out of Africa at once or he would die.

Smith paid no attention to the silly talk about what he believed to be superstition.

That night, when Smith went to bed, he thought no more about horned vipers and Juju. He fell asleep soon, but, in two hours, was wide awake. He felt something or someone was moving in his bungalow, then went outside to sit on the porch. A few minutes later, he heard his night watchman cursing and pounding on something.

What the commotion was that the watchman saw and killed a horned viper. He told Smith that he had seen the snake gliding toward his bungalow. Smith began to feel uneasy.

Three months later, his work was done and he was sailing home on the SS Anglo-Saxon. He met a man named Captain Edwards, a zoologist. He was bringing three crates of snakes home. They were in secure boxes in the ship's hold, but one deadly one was missing.

Smith asked him if it was an African horned viper. Edwards was stunned. The horned viper is one of the rarest snakes in the world and most people have not heard of them. The zoologist said it was possible that the snake did not get a board or it could have escaped while they were docked and slithered through a porthole.

Smith told Edwards about the Juju. The men laughed at what they thought was superstition. Smith said that if the snake could find him out of 200 passengers, he might think there was something to Juju.

Five days later, Smith was taking a shower when something slid into his bath. It was the missing African horned viper. For a moment, he was paralyzed with fear, then he reacted. He grabbed a broom the steward had left in his cabin and turned the hot water on full force.

He quickly jumped out of the tub and held the snake under the hot water. Smith yelled for the steward who rushed to find out what was

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