“It’s all right, my lad,” said the guide quietly; “you needn’t mind me. You’re a bit scared, and nat’rally. Who wouldn’t be if he wasn’t used to these things? I was horribly afraid of the one I first saw, and, for the matter of that, so I was about the next; but I’ve seen so many big snakes that, so long as I can keep at a little distance, they don’t trouble me much. You see, they’re not very dangerous to man, and always get out of his way if they have a chance. There’s been a lot said about their ’tacking folk; and if you were to rouse that gentleman I daresay he’d seize you, and, if he got a hold for his tail, twist round and squeeze you to death; but you leave him alone and give him anything of a chance, he’ll show you the tip of his tail much sooner than he’ll show you his head. Look here!”
Shaddy looked round and picked up a short piece of a branch, which he was about to throw, but the boy caught his arm.
“Don’t make it angry,” he said in a whisper. “The horrible thing may come at us.”
“I’m not going to make it angry,” said Shaddy; “I’m going to make it afraid,” and he hurled the piece of mouldering wood with so good an aim that it struck the branch near where the serpent was coiling itself more closely and flew to pieces.
The serpent threw itself down with a crashing sound amongst the dense undergrowth beneath, and disappeared from their sight.
“There,” said Shaddy, “that’s the way, you see. Gone?”
“No, no. Look out, Shaddy; it’s coming this way,” cried Rob excitedly, as a rustling was heard, and directly after there was a low hiss; and the movement among the twigs and dried leaves told that the creature was coming toward them.
Whether it was coming straight for where they stood neither of them stopped to see, but hurried off onward in the direction of the spot where they had seen the marks upon the leaf, and in a very short time the forest was silent again.
“Was not that a very narrow escape, Shaddy?” said Rob at last.
“No, my lad, I think not. Some people would say it was, and be ready to tell no end of cock-and-bull stories about what that serpent was going to do; but I’ve never known them play any games except once, and then the creature only acted according to its nature. It was in a sort of lake place, half pool, half river, and pretty close to the sea. It was near a gentleman’s plantation, and the black folk used to go down every day to bathe. This they did pretty regularly till one day while they were romping about in the shallow water, which only came up to their middles, one of them shouted for help, saying that a ’gator had got hold of her, and then laughed. The others took no notice, because it was a ’sterical sort of laugh, as they call it, and thought she was playing tricks; but all at once they saw that she was struggling hard and being drawn backwards. That was enough. They all made a rush and caught hold of her arms just as she was being slowly drawn down lower, and when they dragged her nearer the shore, whatever it was that held her yielded a little, though it still hung on to the poor girl; while as they got her nearer a shriek rose, and every one nearly let go, for the head of a big snake was drawn right out of the water, but at the next snatch it loosed its hold and dropped back with a splash.”