We let the ruffian—for his last words convinced me: that he had visited us for no good—go on.
The snake had, inch by inch, moved its location, and was partly concealed from the sight of Burley's friend by a barrel. The light, also, was not shed over that portion of the floor, and while every movement of the monster was distinctly revealed to me, the ruffian could not, without stepping towards us, observe it.
"I s'pose you fellers want to know why I am here," the ruffian asked, with a sneer.
I tried to reply, but I could not; my eyes were fastened upon the glowing orbs of the snake, and it seemed to me that if I spoke, he would spring towards me.
"I'll tell ye why I am here, and how I got in. I want to revenge the injury which you have inflicted upon my friend Burley, and I also want to get a few pounds to pay me for the trouble I have taken in his behalf; so just heave ahead and shell out the shiners, and then we'll spin a yarn 'bout other affairs. Interest first, and then satisfaction."
I heard every word that the villain uttered, but if he had drawn a pistol, and offered to have shot me where I stood, I could not have moved a hand in my behalf. I struggled to overcome the feeling, but it was in vain; the glistening, restless eyes of the snake were on me, and seemed to dance with triumph at their thraldom. The tail was motionless now, as though awaking the result of the conversation.
I wondered that Fred did not come to my relief; but the longer that I looked, the less I thought on the subject, and after a while I began to really enjoy my situation, and to feel surprised that I had considered the monster so terrible. I felt a strange desire to move forward, and fondle the snake, and the eyes that at first seemed so hideous now looked like glittering stones of inestimable value. The black, slimy skin appeared to be of burnished gold, and I thought that if I could but touch it, I should be enriched forever.
Even in my stupor I could hear the loud barking of Rover, on the outside of the building, and it passed through my mind, like an electric shock, that he was uttering a howl for my death. But, like a flash, the bitter feeling that I experienced passed away, and I no longer regretted that I was to die; in fact, I felt rather rejoiced that I was so soon to end my troubles, and it appeared that I had got but a step to move forward, and I should be surrounded with all the pleasures of paradise.
"Why, what is the matter with you two lubbers?" I heard the ruffian ask, the few minutes' silence that had prevailed having startled him; "darn yer eyes, can't one of ye speak, and say that you'll come down with the shiners?"
I could hear the loud breathing of Fred, and I thought that he was trying to answer, but if he did attempt it, the effort was a failure, and the words died in his throat unuttered.