“Largest I ever see, sir, was only the skin, as I telled Mr Rob about. Some half-caste chaps had got it pegged out, and I dessay skinning had stretched it a bit.”
“Well, how long was that, Naylor?”
“That one was twenty-six foot long, sir, and nine foot across; and you may take my word for it as a thing like that, all muscles like iron—say six-and-twenty foot long and bigger round than a man—would be an awkward customer to tackle. Big enough for anything.”
“Quite, Naylor.”
“But how big was this one, do you think?” said Rob, who was getting over the perturbation caused by his adventure.
“Well, my lad, seeing what a bit of a squint I had of it, I should say it were thirteen or fourteen foot—p’raps fifteen.”
“I thought it was nearer fifty,” said Rob.
“Yes, you would then, my lad. But, never mind, it didn’t seize you. I dessay you scared it as much as it did you.”
“You will not be able to eat any supper, Rob, I suppose?” said Brazier rather maliciously.
Rob looked doubtful, but he smiled; and they went to the clearest place they could find, but not without sundry misgivings, for another tree sheltered them from the fire, which now sent forth a tremendous heat, and a cloud of golden sparks rose eddying and circling up to a dense cloud of smoke which glowed as if red-hot where it reflected the flames. This huge trunk, like the one through which Rob had slipped, was coated with parasitical growth, and though apparently solid, might, for all they knew, be hollow, and the nesting-place of half a dozen serpents larger than the one they had seen.