h of this, and that
it's time I did wake up."

At that moment a shudder ran through him, and he turned cold. A deathly
dank perspiration broke from every pore, and he lay absolutely
paralysed.

He was awake. He knew it well enough now. No nightmare could be so
vivid, and in no dream was it possible for him who had it to, as it
were, stand aside from the sufferer, as he had imagined. Yes, he was
wide awake, and this great reptile had nestled to him for the sake of
heat, after being half drowned by the flood. For after undulating its
neck for a few moments longer, it lowered its crest, and in place of
seizing him with its widely distending jaws, let its head sink down upon
his throat and then lay as if enjoying the warmth from his body, and
about to settle off to sleep.

What to do?

It was plain enough; so long as he lay perfectly still there was nothing
to fear, for the reptile's visit was neither inimical nor in search of
food. It had evidently glided up the plank slope and through the
gangway to escape from the chilling wet ground, then made its way into
the cabin and found the young man's berth pleasantly attractive. But
Oliver felt that the slightest movement on his part might incense the
creature and rouse within it a feeling that it was being attacked and a
desire to crush its aggressor.

He knew well enough how wonderfully rapid the motions of a reptile were,
and that in all probability if he stirred he would the next moment, be
wrapped with lightning speed within its folds, and crushed to death.

The muscular strength of these creatures was, he knew, prodigious; even
an eel of two or three feet long could twine itself up in a knot that
was hard to master, hence a serpent of fifteen or twenty feet in length
would, he felt, crush him in an instant.

Oliver Lane lay sick with horror. The weight upon his chest grew
unbearable, and the desire to cast it off stronger minute by minute, as
he lay motionless, with his oppressor quite invisible now.

Panton was in the berth above him, Drew upon the other side of the
cabin, and along the beams there were guns and rifles hanging ready for
use, while a faintly heard tread overhead told him that the watch was on
the alert. But though help and means of defence were so near and ready,
they seemed to be too far-off to avail him much, and hence he still did
not stir.

Twenty or thirty feet he felt the creature must be, and of enormous
thickness. They could n