Chapter Thirty Four.
Many Feet of Unpleasantry.
It was only while I was scraping out the last of the delicate cream from the inside of a huge cocoa-nut that I recalled the task we had to come, and a curious shiver ran through me as I glanced in the direction of the swamp where, nearly a mile away, the reptile lay.
Ebo knew nothing about it as yet, and I hardly conceived how he would be made to understand what we had seen.
“Do you think he will be ready to help kill the serpent, uncle?” I said, after waiting for some time to see if he would say anything about the attack.
“I hardly know, Nat,” he replied cheerily; “but we’ll soon try him. By the way, use the cartridges with the largest kind of shot, for we must make up for this morning’s mistakes. Here, Ebo, we’ve seen a snake,” he said.
“Ung-kul, Nat-mi-boi. Hal-lo, hal-lo hal-lo!” replied Ebo, laughing merrily, and showing his white teeth.
“We shall not get at his understanding like that,” said my uncle quietly; and he sat thinking for a moment.
“Shall I try and draw a snake, uncle?” I said.
“To be sure, Nat,” he replied, laughing; “but where are paper, pencil, or chalk? Stop a minute—I have it.”