“No, uncle,” I said.
“But you must have trodden upon it, and it threw you back.”
“No, uncle; I trod upon the trunk of a small tree, that was all.”
“You trod upon a large serpent, Nat, my boy,” he exclaimed.
“Ugh!” I ejaculated; and I made a jump back on to more solid ground.
“The danger has passed now, Nat,” he said, smiling at my dread; “but really I could not have believed such a creature existed in so small an island.”
“Oh, uncle!” I cried, “I shall never like to go about again for fear of treading upon another.”
“You will soon get over that, Nat, and perhaps we may have the luck to shoot the brute. I don’t think we did it much mischief this time, though I got a good sight of it as it glided amongst the canes.”
“Why, we had no shot in our guns, uncle,” I cried; “we took them out so as not to knock the sun-birds about too much.”
“Of course!” cried my uncle. “How foolish of me not to remember this!”