John Ingerfield and Other Stories

Excerpt

Once upon a time, I wrote a little story of a woman who was crushed to death by a python.  A day or two after its publication, a friend stopped me in the street.  “Charming little story of yours,” he said, “that about the woman and the snake; but it’s not as funny as some of your things!”  The next week, a newspaper, referring to the tale, remarked, “We have heard the incident related before with infinitely greater humour.”