"Your pardon, my good fellow," said he coolly; "you have made a mistake!" and, seizing it by the tail, he swung it round, and crushed its head on the ground. "It is a ribbon snake," he added; "bitten by him, you have just eleven minutes to live. You grow first yellow, then green; then you begin to swell, and all is over—with this exception: you have the consolation of changing colour once more, this time from green to black. It is odd, is it not, Estevan?"
"¡Caray!" replied the latter, who could not help shuddering; "Yours was a lucky thought, Fernando."
"Do you think so, Estevan?"
"By heavens! It is self-evident. Ha! Crush that coral snake coiling round your leg!"
"Why, really, so he is! Well, he is a gentleman who takes liberties!" Saying this, he seized the reptile, and crushed him. "It is a lovely country," he continued. "It is quite diverting to travel here. Halloa! more bodies!—This time a man and horse. They have died together. Poor brute!"
And thus they went on all day. The farther they advanced, the more numerous were the snakes; they met them by threes and fours together. At intervals they found more bodies stretched across their path, proving that they were still on the right trail, and that the Tigercat had left the greater number of his companions on the road. With all their courage, they could not refrain from shuddering at the frightful spectacles they had witnessed in passing through this dreadful place.
Suddenly Stoneheart stopped, bent his body forward, made a sign to his friend to be still, and listened anxiously. "If I am not mistaken," he whispered, "somebody is coming this way."
"Someone!" exclaimed the astonished Estevan. "Impossible!"
"And why so? We are here, and why not others?"
"Quite right: but who can it be?"