"Where is it? Did you see it?"
"It's all right," he said cheerily, trying to quiet her. "It won't trouble you any more."
"Was it only a nightmare?" she murmured.
"Nightmare—no," he answered. "It was real enough. Look!"
He pointed to a few paces away where lay the cobra, dead, its head crushed in by an enormous stone.
"I heard you scream," he explained. "I was asleep. It woke me. At first I thought I was dreaming. Then came another scream. I ran here and saw you against the wall yonder and the serpent preparing to spring. I picked up a stone and killed him. I was just in time, a second later and it would have been too late."
"Thank God!" she said.