seemed so quiet and tame that he
did not raise his piece, though if it had attempted to run, the thought
of the delicious roast it would make would undoubtedly have made him
bring it down.

Besides he wanted all the practice he could get with his rifle, and a
shot at a running antelope or gazelle was not to be missed.

Half wondering why it did not feed, he remained watching it, supposing
that it had heard some of the party lower down; when all at once the
sun's rays seemed to glance off something glistening and bright, and
straining forward to get a better view, Dick became aware of the fact
that a large serpent was twining fold after fold one over another, and
as, half petrified, he watched the reptile, he suddenly saw a monstrous
neck and head reared up in front of the gazelle.

The creature seemed to be all glistening umber brown and dusky yellow,
and its surface shone like burnished tortoiseshell in the glowing sun,
while to the boy's eyes it seemed, from the height to which the swaying
head was raised, that the body, half hidden from him by the herbage,
must be monstrous.

And all the time, fascinated as it were, or more probably paralysed by
fear, the gazelle stood perfectly still, watching the undulations of the
serpent's neck, and calmly awaiting its end.

Dick was so interested that he forgot that he held a rifle and shot-gun
in his hand. He knew that the serpent was, as it were, playing with its
prey before seizing it, feeling probably, if it thought at all, quite
certain of the trembling creature whenever it felt disposed to strike,
and preparing itself for its banquet by writhing its body into a more
convenient place.

It was a horrible sight, and Dick waited to see the serpent seize the
gazelle, wrap round it and crush its quivering body out of shape, and
then slowly swallow it, till it formed a knot somewhere in the long
tapering form, and go to sleep till it was hungry again.

"Ugh, you beast!" ejaculated Dick; and the sound of his own voice seemed
to break the fascination of interest by which he had been held.

The next instant he was pitying the gazelle, and as he saw the serpent
draw back its head he laid the barrel of his piece against a block of
stone, waited until the quivering head was still and the jaws began to
distend, and then his trembling hand grew firm, and he drew the trigger.

The puff of smoke obscured everything for the moment, and he could not
start forward or he would have