Chris's mirth had passed away as quickly as it came, and he sat erect in
his saddle.
"Going back to look for the kegs, Griggs?" he said faintly.
"Yes, of course, unless you like the job," was the gruff reply.
"I'll go with you," said Chris briskly.
"Then you'll have to nip your pony's ribs pretty tightly," cried Griggs,
"for the moment he sees a snake he'll spin round and bolt."
"I'll mind," said Chris, setting his teeth.
"Come on, then."
The pair rode off back along the track littered with their impedimenta,
while the doctor and the others began to try and reduce the loads of the
mules in difficulty to something like order.
"Oh dear, what a muddle!" cried Chris, as they went back at an amble.
"Why, half the things are lying about."
"Not a quarter," said Griggs gruffly, as his eyes scanned not only the
scattered necessities, but every stone and scrap of dry, parched-up
growth.
"Think any of the rattlers will be about?" said Chris.
"I dunno. I want to set eyes on those two tubs."
But the tubs were not visible, and the pair rode on till they felt that
at any moment they ought to be in sight of the enemies that put horse
and mule to flight.
Still nothing was visible. The last-kicked-off pack had been passed,
but there were no tubs, and the part of the desert where the tangled
mass of serpents had been seen was so close that the next minute they
felt that they were bound to see the writhing creatures somewhere among
the stones in front.
But strange to state, their ponies displayed no uneasiness, the tight
hands kept upon their reins were not needed, and the docile little
animals stepped steadily onward towards the stone-dotted slope and
basin.
"Why, where are they?" said Chris, in a whisper, as he gazed wild-eyed
and excitedly over his mount's ears and from side to side.
"I dunno, my lad," replied Griggs. "It caps me. Why, there were
hundreds and thousands all about yonder when the stampede began."
"Of course there were," said Chris, "and now I can't see one."
"Not so much as a rattler. They must all have holes somewhere here
among the stones. Mind! Take care!"
"What for? Why?"
"They may come darting out and attack us."
"I say," continued Griggs, after a careful look round, "weren't dazed
with the hot sun and dreamed all that, did we?"
"Did the mules and horses dream it too?" cried Chris scornfully.
"No, of course not. But it's a puzzle, my lad. I wouldn't have
believed such a sight possible; but there it was. And now I wouldn't
have believed this could have happened; but it has, for I can't see a
snake."
"Never mind the snakes as they're not here," said Chris, setting the
example of reining up, for the two mustangs to stand calmly enough; "I
want to find those two water-barrels."
"Ah, to be sure; we've come for them," said Griggs, looking curiously
about. "I say, was that the mule that carried the kegs?"
"Oh yes; didn't you see the pack-saddle?"
"To be sure. If it hadn't been for that I should have been ready to say
that the one with the water had gone right off somewhere."
"Oh, that was the one," persisted Chris. "I know him well enough by his
white muzzle."
"To be sure. That's right. Then where are the kegs? Snakes ain't
thirsty things. They couldn't have rolled them away, could they?"
"What nonsense!" cried Chris. "But it is really strange. If we were on
a slope I should have thought that they had gone rolling right away out
of sight."
"We are on a steep slope, lad, but the barrels would have to roll up it
to get out of sight like this, and I never knew barrels carry on games
like that out of a book of fairy tales."
"Griggs," cried Chris, after a moment or two of thought, "are we in the
right place? These stones are very confusing."
"Right place? Yes, look there; you can see our trail."
"Yes," replied Chris thoughtfully, as he bent down over his saddle-bow,
"and--Ugh! Look there!"
"Eh? See snakes?" cried Griggs excitedly.
"No, but look there; surely all those windings in the sand were made by
them."
"To be sure. Oh yes, we're in the right spot, without a doubt. Then I
tell you what. We can't see very far away any way amongst these
dotted-about stones; there must be a sharp slope somewhere near, perhaps
the edge of a precipice, or great hole in the ground."
"Crater of a volcano, perhaps," cried Chris.
"That's it, lad; the one that played at pitch-and-toss with all these
blocks of stone, and threw them all over the place."
"Then where is the hole?" said Chris.
"I dunno; somewhere about," said Griggs thoughtfully, as he looked
about, peering in among the rocks.
"I shouldn't wonder," said Chris, as thoughtfully, "if it is quite close
here, and when the mule kicked off the tubs they went rolling down into
it and were lost."
"Oh, don't say that, boy!" cried Griggs excitedly. "You don't think of
what value that drop of water may be to us now."
"Oh yes, I do. I'm so thirsty; but I say, Griggs, suppose the hole into
which they have rolled is the one that the snakes live in."
"Not it; they live in little holes and cracks just big enough for them
to creep into. Well, I don't know where the things have gone. Look
sharp and find 'em; your eyes are younger than mine. We shall have the
doctor after us directly to physic us both for not finding them."
"Hurrah!" cried Chris. "There they are!"
"Where? I can't see from here."
"Come nearer this way," said Chris, easing his horse off to the right.
"There, just at the foot of that great block."
"And hurrah the second!" cried Griggs, as soon as he had pressed his
horse into the right position. "I couldn't have seen them from where I
was even if we had been closer. My word! They rolled a good way,
didn't they?"
"No; they couldn't, because they are chained together so that they hung
across the pack-saddle. The mule must have galloped round that way when
he kicked them off."
"Yes, I suppose you're right. Come along; I'll sling 'em across my tit
and walk back."
Griggs sprang off his mustang, and was in the act of passing the reins
over the animal's head, when Chris made a snatch at his collar and held
on.
"What did you do that for?" cried Griggs.
"Hist! Don't make a sound. Look," whispered Chris.
"Why, what's the matter?" said Griggs, lowering his voice, for the boy's
manner impressed him, he looked so blank and strange.
"Look! Can't you see?"
"No, not from where I am," was the reply.
"Oh, it's horrid," whispered Chris; "dreadful! The kegs are lying on a
nest of snakes, and they're rising and falling and playing about them
like flames round logs of wood."