Read "True Heroism" by Charlotte Maria Tucker online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
"A LADY, named Miss Bird, on entering her bathroom one night during her residence in India, happened to place her foot on the head of a serpent. She did not yield to the natural impulse of fear, and start back, and so release the dangerous reptile. Firmly she pressed down her foot upon it. It coiled round her ankle, but she remained immovable! When the servants came with lights they found the heroic lady with a cobra capella lying dead at her feet!"
"Oh! What firmness she showed! " exclaimed Jessy. "I am sure that I should have started back and screamed the moment that I felt the slimy creature under my foot!"