"Then you must walk this time like a cat. Perhaps he's gone, but he may
be fast asleep still."
He made a point with his fork to show me how he meant to fix the reptile
to the ground, and I took a good grip of my rake-handle, intending to
try and disable the monster by one blow.
This part of our journey was much more tedious than the other, for we
were now getting close to the spot, and we knew that though sometimes it
was possible to walk close by a snake without disturbing it, at other
times the slightest sound would send it gliding rapidly out of sight.
We approached then in the most stealthy way, Morgan holding his fork the
while as if it were a gun, and we were advancing upon the enemy.
Low growth had sprung apace about the clearing, so that we could not get
a sight of the spot till we were close by, when Morgan softly parted the
bush-like growth, peered out, drew back, and signed to me to advance,
moving aside the while, so that I could pass him, and peer out in turn.
I was not long in availing myself of the opportunity; and there, not a
dozen feet from me, lay twisted about, something like a double S, a
large specimen of the serpent I had so often heard about; and a curious
shrinking sensation came over me, as I noticed its broad flat head,
shaped something like an old-fashioned pointed shovel, with the neck
quite small behind, but rapidly increasing till the reptile was fully,
as Morgan said, thick as his wrist; and then slowly tapering away for a
time before rapidly running down to where I could see five
curious-looking rings at the end of the dull grey tail.
"A rattlesnake," I said to myself, as with a kind of fascination I
eagerly looked at the line which marked the gaping mouth showing plainly
in an ugly smile; then at the dull creamy-brown and grey markings, and
the scales which covered the skin, here and there looking worn and
crumpled, and as if it was a trifle too big for the creature that wore
it as if it were a shirt of mail.
I should have stood there staring at the repellent-looking creature for
long enough, had not Morgan softly drawn me back, and then led the way
round to our left, so that we could have the sun behind us, and approach
the dangerous reptile without having to rustle through the bushes close
at hand.
"Mind you keep back, my lad, till I've got him safe," whispered Morgan,
"then hit him hard."
"Is it as dangerous as they say?" I asked.
"Worse, look you; that's why I want to pin him first. I might hit him a
good crack, but snakes are hard to kill, and he might throw his head
about and bite even then, though I arn't quite sure even now that they
don't sting with their tails."
"I'm sure they don't," I whispered back.
"Ah, that's all very well, Master George, but I don't see as you can
know much better than me. Anyhow, I'm going to risk it; so here goes,
and when I say `now,' bring down that rake-handle as big a whop as you
can with both hands, right on his back."
I nodded, and we stood out now on the barren, stony patch close to the
fir-trees, with the sun casting our shadows in a curious dumpy way on
the earth, and our enemy about thirty feet away.
Morgan signed to me to stand still, and I obeyed trembling with
excitement, and eagerly watching as he cautiously approached with his
pole extended before him, ready to make a dart at the snake, whose head
lay half turned for him, and its neck temptingly exposed, ready for the
fork which should hold it down.
On went Morgan, inch by inch, his shadow just before him, and in spite
of his injunction, I could not refrain from following, so as to get a
good view of the encounter; and besides, I argued with myself, how could
I be ready to help unless I was close at hand?
Consequently I stepped on nearer too, till I could see the reptile quite
clearly, distinguishing every scale and noting the dull, fixed look of
its eyes, which did not seem to be closed, for I was not familiar then
with the organisation of snakes.
As Morgan went on the stillness of the clearing seemed terrible, and
once more I could not help thinking of what a treacherous act it was to
steal upon the creature like that in its sleep.
But directly after, the killing instinct toward a dangerous enemy grew
strong within me, and I drew in my breath, my teeth were set fast, and
my fingers tightened about the rake-handle, ready to deliver a blow.
All this took very few minutes, but it seemed to me to last a long time,
and thought after thought ran through my mind, each one suggestive of
danger.
"Suppose Morgan misses it," I said to myself; "it will be frightened and
vicious, and strike at him, and if he is bitten I shall be obliged to
attack it then, and I shall not have such a chance as he has, for the
head will be darting about in all directions."
Then I began to wish I had gone first, and hit at it as it lay, with all
my might.
Too late now, I knew; and as I saw in imagination Morgan lying helpless
there, and myself striking hard at the snake, never taking into
consideration the fact that after a deadly stroke the animal would
rapidly try to escape, and glide away.
Morgan was now so near that I saw the shadow of his head begin to creep
over the snake, and it loomed so black and heavy that I wondered why the
reptile did not feel it and wake up.
Then I stood fast as if turned to stone, as I watched my companion
softly extend the pole he carried, with the fork nearer and nearer the
creature's neck, to remain perfectly motionless for a moment or two.
There was a darting motion, and Morgan stood pressing the staff down as
the serpent leaped into life, writhing, twining, and snapping its body
in waves which ran from head to the tail which quivered in the air,
sending forth a peculiar low, dull, rattling noise, and seeming to seek
for something about which to curl.
"I've got him, Master George. Come along now; it's your turn."
I sprang forward to see that the evil-looking head was held down close
to the ground, and that the jaws were gaping, and the eyes bright with a
vindictive light, literally glittering in the sun.
"Can you hold him?" I said, hoarsely.
"Oh, yes; I've got him pretty tight. My! See that? He is strong."
For at that moment the snake's tail struck him, and twined about his
left leg; untwined, and seemed to flog at him, quivering in the air the
while, but only after writhing horribly, twisting round the pole which
pressed it down, and forming itself into a curious moving knot.
"I can't hit at it now," I said, hoarsely; "it will strike away the
pole."
"Yes; don't hit yet. Wait a bit till he untwissens himself; then give
it him sharp, look you."
"You won't let it go?" I said.
"Not a bit of it, my lad. Too fond of Morgan Johns to let him stick his
fangs into me. Now you've got a chance. No, you haven't; he's twisted
up tighter than ever. Never mind, wait a bit; there's no hurry."
"But you are torturing it so," I cried.
"Can't help it, Master George. If I didn't, he'd torture me and you
too. Well, he does twissen about. Welsh eel's nothing to him."
For the snake in its rage and pain kept twining about the pole, treating
that as the cause of all its suffering. Morgan stood there full of
excitement, but though longing to deliver a blow that should paralyse if
it did not kill our enemy, I could not get the slightest chance.
"Ah, we ought to have had a cut at him before he twined about my pole,"
said Morgan, after this had been going on for some minutes; "but it
wasn't your fault; there wasn't time."
"No," I said, gloomily, "there was no time. Now then, hold tight."
I made a rapid stroke at the long, lithe body which suddenly untwisted
to its full length, but my rake-handle only struck the ground, for the
serpent was quicker than I, and it threw itself once more in a series of
quivering folds about Morgan's pole.
"Well, he is strong," cried the latter. "But I have it. I'm getting a
bit 'fraid he'll work quite a hole, and get out, and I'm not at all sure
that the nails arn't giving. Look here, Master George; put your hand in
my pocket, and pull out and open my big knife ready for me. Then you
shall hold the pole, and I'll go down and try and cut his head off."
"But will that be safe?" I said. "Hadn't we better leave go and run
away?"
"What, and leave a customer like this free to hunt about our place? Now
you wouldn't like to do that, I know."
"No; I shouldn't like to do that," I said; "but it would be terrible if
he got away."
"Well then, out with my knife--quick! I'm beginning to wish we'd left
him alone, for it'll be chizzle for both of us if he do get loose."