it looked exactly like a grey boulder of some fifteen or twenty pounds
weight, yet there was a certain something in its appearance which caused
him to bestow a second and more attentive glance upon it, and now he
felt not quite so certain that it really was a stone, after all. To
resolve his doubts he picked up a small stone and threw it at the
questionable object, the missile falling about a foot short. He felt
almost sure that, as the stone plopped into the water, he detected a
slight movement on the part of the mysterious object. To make quite
sure, he threw a second stone, and this time his aim was better, the
stone hitting the target fair and square in the middle. But the sound
of the impact was not that of stone upon stone, it was rather that of
stone upon wood, or even some still more yielding substance, and it was
immediately followed by a loud angry hiss and the uprearing of the
object aimed at. The next instant the amazed trio beheld the head and
neck of a gigantic serpent lift itself some four or five feet out of the
pool, while fierce hissings issued from the wide-opened jaws. For a few
breathless seconds the enormous reptile glared around, apparently in
search of the audacious disturbers of its slumbers, then, seeing the
three white men standing on the opposite shore of the pool, it swung
round, and came swimming, with an easy, undulatory movement of its body,
straight toward them at an astonishing speed.

"Avaunt, Sathanas!" exclaimed Cole, throwing up his hands. "Surely 'tis
the Devil himself in his original form that hath taken possession of
this Eden! No mortal serpent was ever so big as thicky. Look to the
length of mun! He must be all of thirty foot, or more. And look to the
pace at which he cometh! We must run for it, my masters." And he
turned with intent to fly from the scene.

"Not a bit of it," exclaimed George, who was by this time half
undressed. "`Resist the Devil and he will fly from thee.' And if he be
not the Devil, but only a mortal snake, there is still less reason for
flight, seeing that there be three of us to one of him. Besides, I mean
to have his skin, and take it home to my mother." And he snatched up
his long, keen sword from the ground where he had thrown it when about
to undress, and boldly advanced to the attack.

The python, which was of the species known as "anaconda," is very common
in the forests bordering the Orinoco, and is occasionally found in
Trinidad