Half submerged in the weed at the foot of the sloping deck he made out the great body of the snake, terrible even in death, and shuddered as he thought of what would inevitably have been his fate had Dorothy been less courageous or the iron stanchions been less honestly wrought; these last, bent almost double, gave mute but effective evidence of the mighty power of the reptile.
Wishing to save Dorothy, as far as he could, from all reminders of the contest, Howard lowered himself to the water’s edge and poked the snake down beneath the weed; then he climbed back to the taffrail and again searched the horizon for sight of Jackson.
This time his quest was successful. Approaching over the wreckage, quite near at hand, were four figures. As they drew nearer he recognized Jackson, the minister who had married him the day before, Mother Joyce, and his jailer of the day before. Each of the men carried several rifles over his shoulder, and was girt about with belts of cartridges. Mother Joyce bore a less and indeterminable weight.
At Howard’s call, Dorothy came on deck to greet the newcomers. Rosy and smiling, with head erect and sparkling eyes, she looked little like the woebegone maiden who had answered Forbes’s call the day before.
Mother Joyce’s sharp eyes quickly spied the difference. “Holy mither! What’s this?” she cried. “And was it you, miss, that didn’t want to marry at all, at all? And was it you that was so sure that you and Mr. Howard could niver be anything to each other? Faith, look at the bright eyes and the blushing cheeks of her! Sure, Tim, man, it carries me back forty years, so it does!” With a fond look she turned to the man beside her.
“Thrue for you, Kathleen, darlint,” he replied. “The top of the mornin’ to you, ma’am, and may you live a million years and have a hundred——”
“Arrah! Be still with your foolishness, Tim. Sure, you make the young lady blush.”
Meanwhile Jackson was explaining matters to Howard. He had, he said, circled round to the other side of the village and lurked there for several hours, waiting his chance. Then he had slipped up on the deck and run directly into Mother Joyce, who promptly whisked him below. “Cap’n Forbes’s big snake had got away, and he had gone after it,” continued the policeman, “and——”
Howard held up his hand. “It won’t get away again,” he interjected. “It came here.”
“Here?”