He had not travelled many hours, however, before clouds began to bank up and obscure the sky, and it became very dark.
A storm was brewing, and, ushered in by low muttering thunder in the far distance, it soon came on in earnest.
As the big drops of rain began to fall, shining in the flashes of the lightning like a shower of molten gold, Benee sought the shelter of a rocky cave which was near to him.
He laid him down on the rough dry grass to wait until the storm should clear away.
He felt drowsy, however. Perhaps the unusually good fare he had partaken of in the village had something to do with this; but of late his hardships had been very great indeed, so it is no wonder that now exhausted Nature claimed repose.
The last thing he was conscious of was a long, low, mournful cry that seemed to come from the far interior of the cave.
It was broad daylight when he again awoke, and such an awakening!
Great snowy-breasted owls sat blinking at the light, but all the rocks around, or the shelves thereof, were alive with coiling, wriggling snakes of huge size.
One had twined round his leg, and he knew that if he but moved a muscle, it would send its terrible fangs deep into his flesh, and his journey would be at an end.
Gradually, however, the awful creature unwound itself and wriggled away.