ot, then, be upon an isle, he thought, for such
a creature must be an inhabitant of the mainland. But what could he do,
with the weight increasing now? He could not possibly bear it much
longer, for the reptile must be far longer than he had first imagined--
forty feet at least.

At last, after vainly hoping that the serpent might grow restless and
leave him, he felt that he must make some effort, and determined to call
to his comrades for help.

But he hesitated, for what would be the consequences? The monster would
be aroused by the noise and the first movement he made; and if it did
not attack him, it would seize Drew or Panton, who would wake up in
complete ignorance of the danger at hand. They could not use their guns
there, in the narrow cabin, and the serpent would be master of the
field.

No; he dare not call for them to help him, nor speak till some one came
into the cabin, for in all probability Mr Rimmer was on deck and would
come down soon.

A hundred wild thoughts flocked through Oliver Lane's brain, as he lay
there half-suffocated, and felt how hard it was to have escaped from the
terrible dangers of the volcanic eruption to find his end in the embrace
of a loathsome serpent.

At last his mind was made up to what seemed to be the only way of
escape. He determined to try and collect his energies, and then, after
drawing a long deep breath, suddenly heave the monster off him on to the
cabin floor. This he knew--if he were successful--would enrage it, but
at the same time it might make for the companion-way and escape on to
the deck--to attack the watch!

He hesitated at this for a few moments, but self-preservation is the
first law of nature, and the watch would hear the alarm and be able to
ascend the rigging, out of the creature's reach.

"I must do it," thought Oliver, "before I become too weak, for he's
sixty feet long if an inch," and beginning softly to draw in a deep
breath, he felt, to his horror, a slight gliding motion on the part of
the reptile, as if the heaving up were making it uncomfortable.

Oliver Lane lay motionless again, gathering force for his great effort.
His mind was now wonderfully active, and the serpent had grown to fully
a hundred feet long. Feeling that it was sheer cowardice to be passive,
he was about to make a desperate effort to throw off his incubus, when
there was a shout on deck, answered by Mr Rimmer's voice, evidently in
a great state of excitement, but