h the slightly open door, and pushing it farther open as
it came with its immense bulk, was a huge black and yellow snake!

It was moving in the direction of the robber, who, entirely engrossed
with the packet from which he had torn the wrapper, was totally
oblivious of his position. The snake had possibly been attracted by
the tearing noise which he had made as he rent the linen envelope with
his teeth.

I had almost cried aloud to warn him, when, I checked myself. The man
had come to murder me; he must take his chance. He had turned to me,
satisfied with his scrutiny of the casket which he now held in his
hand, the box which contained it having been thrown on the floor, when
I saw the snake draw itself into a great coil and raise its head; then,
just as his lips were opening to speak to me, the great reptile made a
spring, and in an instant coiled itself tight round him, the tail
whipping close like a steel wire. He gave a great cry and dropped the
casket and the revolver immediately. Within a second or two I had them
in my hands, and at the same moment the door opened and Don Juan d'Alta
entered.

He rapped out a great Spanish oath, and a good many more words in the
same language; then he turned to me.

"Who is this man?" he asked.

"That is one of the men," I answered at once, "who attacked the train.
He entered this room a few minutes after you left me with the intention
of robbing or murdering me."

"Then he seems to have got his deserts," replied my host, laughing. He
came quite close to me and whispered in my ear, "The snake is quite
harmless, but it will give him a fright and maybe break a rib or two if
it squeezes hard."

The old man appeared to regard it as a huge joke, but kept a solemn
face.

It appeared to be going beyond a joke to break his ribs, and I said so
in a whisper.

"He deserves it," was the reply.

Meanwhile, the robber was becoming absolutely livid with fear, and
began to supplicate Don Juan in Spanish.

Finding this of no avail, he turned to me.

"Have mercy, Senor," he cried piteously, "and help me to free myself
from this reptile. It is crushing me to death."

The horrible thing with wide-open jaws was breathing in his face, and
its fetid breath seemed turning him sick.

Don Juan laughed aloud, rather heartlessly it seemed to me, but the
Spanish nature is a cruel one to its enemies.

"I know the man," he said, "and I cannot understand what has brought
him into thi