All on a sudden Pike began to shout: “Snake! snake! For God’s sake, Tom, get off my back, a snake is biting me all to pieces!”
“What in thunder do you mean?” cried Tom. “Don’t you try foolin’ with me about a snake!”
“Snake! snake!” cried Pike, striving to run, but Tom clung to him like the Old Man of the Sea, thinking that he was putting up a job to throw him into the water.
“Stop your foolin’ or I’ll hit you!” said Tom.
But Pike still plunged furiously, and then began calling upon Tom to put down his legs. “Put down your legs, confound you! Don’t you see that you are killing me—that you are cutting me all to pieces with—” But Pike was not allowed to finish the sentence, as Tom, who was by this time blind with rage, drew back his fist as well as he was able and struck Pike in the mouth.
The unexpected blow caused Pike to throw his head back so far that both went over backwards and disappeared under the water. They came up about four feet apart, and as soon as Tom got his hair out of his eyes he made for Pike. The latter was on his guard and stepped aside, at the same time grasping Tom and giving him such a plunge as must have sent him to the depth of a foot into the mud at the bottom of the stream. Pike then broke for the shore with such furious strides as to nearly lift the waters from their bed. By the time Tom had reached shore Pike was at a safe distance, yet when Tom began snapping his revolver at him he danced about at a lively rate.
“Hold on! hold on!” cried Pike, “stay where you are! Don’t shoot till I tell you about it! Blast it, don’t you know that down in the water thar you was jist cuttin’ me all to pieces with them infernal spurs of yours!”
Tom glanced down at his heels and saw it all. There were his huge Spanish spurs, sharp as needles, and there he had been digging into poor Pike’s flesh while riding him through the water, causing him to think he was being bitten on all sides by water-snakes.
“Haw! haw!” laughed Tom. “Why Pike, you fool, why didn’t you tell me that I was hurtin’ you with my spurs?”
“I didn’t know what it was myself, at fust; then when I did find out you wouldn’t give me time to say it.”