“Then we ought to take Mr Nathaniel Griggs’ rifle away from him, Ned,” said Chris, with mock seriousness.
“Ah, you may laugh, my lads, but I deserve it,” said the American seriously. “It gave me a cold shudder just now when I thought of what a mad thing I had done. There’s more fooling about with guns than people think. Every now and then a donkey comes into a room, sees a gun, picks it up, and presents it, saying to some one, ‘I’ll shoot you,’ and pulls the trigger, bringing some poor fellow down. If ever you see any one aim at a person with a gun, knock him over, and save accident. A poor boy or girl is shot, and then the idiot says, ‘Oh, I didn’t know it was loaded!’ It oughtn’t to have been, but at such times guns generally are. I don’t know how many accidents of that kind I’ve heard of. We’re always going to be carrying our pieces on this journey, and never ought to have one out of our hands, so we should be the more careful. I don’t want to be buried out here in the desert, nor yet go home again without a head. What would be the use of the gold to me then?” he added, with a dry chuckle.
“Ah, what indeed?” said Chris seriously. “But don’t talk about it. I say, when you were keeping watch in the night, did you hear or see anything?”
“Didn’t see much, but I seemed to hear a good deal that was a bit strange.”
“What?” asked Chris eagerly.
“Oh, I don’t know; creepy sounds in the black darkness under the trees, and splashings in the big pool, just as if it was full of six-foot alligators waiting for something or some one to eat.”
“I heard that,” said Chris; “but it was only fish.”
“Like enough, my lad. I never heard of any ’gators in these parts. Hallo! That was something.—Nearly had me off.”
“A snake!” cried Chris, for Griggs’ mustang had suddenly plunged, bounding sidewise with a jerk to its rider which nearly sent him out of his saddle.
“Rattler, I expect; nearly trod on him. Isn’t bitten, or he wouldn’t go on so quietly,” added the American, turning in his saddle to look back at the trampled track they had made through the brush, but nothing was to be seen.