re him, stooped,
and plunged his hands into the chest, just too as the fire burned the
brightest; and as he rose erect again he tore from out of where it
rested, a great writhing serpent, whose myriad scales flashed in the
brilliant light as if it were of gold.

And then, and then only, a deep, low, moaning murmur rose from the many
throats and died away as if in the distance in one deep sigh.

Silence again, and Murray's eyes were fixed, his breast thrilling, and a
sensation ran through him as if some strange force were plucking at his
nerves and making them vibrate throughout his frame.

For as the great bronze figure stood erect those who watched could see
that the serpent was all in motion, gliding, twining and crawling all
over the priest's stalwart frame, while he too seemed to be working hard
with his hands, trying to control the reptile's movements, but only for
it to go on gliding rapidly through his fingers; and as the midshipman
watched, he kept on getting glimpses of an oval flattened head gliding
over the negro's breast, passing beneath his arms, reappearing again
over his shoulders to pass round his neck, and always eluding the busy
hands which tried to restrain it.

The scene was wonderful. Murray had watched the black snatch the
reptile from the box which held it, and then it was as if he had
snatched forth a dozen serpents which were ever after twining and
intertwining in continuous motion and flashing the while in a wonderful
quivering, endlessly moving flame of glistening scales which seemed to
throw off a phosphorescent mist of light that enveloped both reptile and
man.

As Murray gazed, fascinated by the weirdly strange scene before him, it
seemed to him a dozen times over that a deadly struggle was going on
between the two writhing creatures, and that every now and then, as the
golden oval head darted out of the confusion of movement, it was only to
gather force for a dart at the man and fix its fangs in the quivering
flesh. But there was no cessation; the reptile was ever strong, and the
man as vigorous as ever. Darting at the struggling figure about which
it was twined, and then--perhaps it was the boy's imagination--gaping
wide to fix upon some part of the quivering flesh, breast, back,
shoulder, or side, perhaps most often at the hands which kept on moving
about as sharply as the flat head which played around with such
wonderful rapidity. And the motion was ceaseless, always glistening