"Girls, if we had a few more berries, I could make a berry pudding," said Miss Miller.
"Then we'll pick some more," returned Elena, rolling over to rise to her feet.
As she did so she came directly under a berry bush and took hold of it to assist herself in rising. A piercing scream frightened her companions speechless.
"Augh! A snake! I grabbed hold of a nasty old snake!" she yelled, shaking herself and trying to wipe the contaminated hand on the grass in a mad frenzy.
The others ran over to see the snake and Zan said, "He didn't bite, did he?"
"Mercy no! Wasn't it bad enough to feel his body wriggle!" sputtered Elena, nauseated at the remembrance of the touch.
"Don't think of it again! Quick, Elena, change your thought and think of something else!" came from Miss Miller, as she shook Elena suddenly, to make her take notice.
"Eh—what!" said Elena, wondering at the Guide's queer action, but at the same time forgetting to be ill.
"Show me where it went! Hurry—quick! I want to catch it for observation!" Miss Miller said, excitedly.