big stories to tell.

"Dar's rattlers in de pine woods, hidin' on de sunny sides of stumps:
and dar's a pow'ful sight o' moccasins down amonst de water-hyacinths
near de bayou. Youse bettah look out, honey, or dey'll cotch youalls,
shuah!"

Mabel, Tom, Hetty and Charlie talked the matter over very seriously,
almost solemnly.

"Do you s'pose they'll crawl into the house?" Hetty said, her eyes large
and round with fearful anticipations.

Tom shook his head gravely.

"No telling! I heard a missionary from India say once how those awful
cobras in that country used to drop right down from the ceiling."

Mabel drew a long breath.

"My stars! I'd hate to wake up in the morning and find a snake near my
pillow!"

"Guess we'd better keep a good lookout," was Charlie's emphatic
suggestion.

One day when papa and mamma and little Hal went in the launch across the
river to see the new orange grove, and the children were left alone
save for old Uncle Pomp who was hoeing in the truck patch, something
happened that made quite a scare. Hetty went into mamma's room for a
spool of white thread, and when she came out there was a frightened look
on her face.

"Oh, there's a snake on mamma's bed!" she exclaimed.

Tom and Charlie sprang up so suddenly from their game of parchesi that
counters and disks fell to the floor.

Then all four children hurried to the door of mamma's room and peeped
cautiously in. It was not very light in the room for the window shades
had been pulled partly down to shut out the glare of the noonday sun,
but sure enough, it could be seen very plainly that there was something
on the bed--a half-coiled, bluish-green snake with brown stripes.

Mabel uttered a scream.

"It squirms--I saw it!" she cried.

"No you didn't either," said Tom. "You just thought so, because you're
so scared. But it is a snake, sure enough and it's asleep. Guess we'd
better not arouse it."

"Somebody ought to kill it," Hetty whispered, her teeth chattering. "One
of yon boys'd better get Uncle Pomp; have him bring his hoe or
something."

"I'll go," said Charlie quickly.

"Let's all go," suggested Mabel.

Tom hesitated a little. He was the bravest of the lot, though the
youngest.

"Say, somebody ought to stay and watch that snake; if it crawls down, we
want to know where he goes to. I'll stay--only get Uncle Pomp soon's you
can."

But the children couldn't find the old darkey. So the children came
trooping back to t