in
the woods. The air was alive with them; many being similar to the birds
they had been familiar with from infancy, while others were new and
strange.

To her immense delight Ailie saw many living specimens of the
bird-of-paradise, the graceful plumes of which she had frequently beheld
on very high and important festal occasions, nodding on the heads of
Aunt Martha and Aunt Jane. But the prettiest of all the birds she saw
there was a small creature with a breast so red and bright, that it
seemed, as it flew about, like a little ball of fire. There were many
of them flying about near a steep bank, in holes of which they built
their nests. She observed that they fed upon flies which they caught
while skimming through the air, and afterwards learned that they were
called bee-eaters.

"Oh! look!" exclaimed Ailie in that tone of voice which indicated that a
surprising discovery had been made. Ailie was impulsive, and the
_tones_ in which she exclaimed "Oh!" were so varied, emphatic, and
distinct, that those who knew her well could tell exactly the state of
her mind on hearing the exclamation. At present, her "Oh!" indicated
surprise mingled with alarm.

"Eh! what, where?" cried Glynn, throwing forward his musket--for he had
taken the precaution to carry one with him, not knowing what he might
meet with on such a coast.

"The snake! look--oh!"

At that moment a huge black snake, about ten feet long, showed itself in
the grass. Glynn took aim at once, but the piece, being an old
flint-lock, missed fire. Before he could again take aim the
loathsome-looking reptile had glided into the underwood, which in most
places was so overgrown with the rank and gigantic vegetation of the
tropics as to be quite impenetrable.

"Ha! he's gone, Ailie!" cried Glynn, in a tone of disappointment, as he
put fresh priming into the pan of his piece. "We must be careful in
walking here, it seems. This wretched old musket! Lucky for us that
our lives did not depend on it. I wonder if it was a poisonous
serpent?"

"Perhaps it was," said Ailie, with a look of deep solemnity, as she took
her companion's left hand, and trotted along by his side. "Are not all
serpents poisonous?"

"Oh dear, no. Why, there are some kinds that are quite harmless. But
as I don't know which are and which are not, we must look upon all as
enemies until we become more knowing."

Presently they came to the mouth of a river--one of those sluggish
stre