The Gold Hunters' Adventures Part 79

"And wake up and find a snake for a bedfellow? No, I feel that I shall not sleep again for a month. I am almost ready to declare that I will not stop another day at Ballarat, or in Australia. We have met with nothing but dangers since our landing, and it seems that on each occasion our lives have been spared as by a miracle."

"I can feel only too grateful that they are spared, without questioning the means," I replied. "Whether a gracious Providence, or our shrewdness, has prevented us from being food for worms, is a subject we will not discuss."

"But I feel tired of this kind of life," Fred said, as he seated himself upon his bed and looked around the floor, covered with blood, and the bodies of the huge snake and the dead man. "A few weeks ago there was nothing that I liked so well as an adventure, but now I am surfeited, and would fain enjoy a respite. A few weeks of inactivity would not come amiss, for ever since we have been on the island we have seen nothing, heard of nothing, but blood. I am sick of it."

"Well?" I inquired, anxiously.

"I will adhere to the vow that I took before leaving California. We swore then never to desert each other, either in sickness or in health.

Until you are content to leave Australia, I remain. That is settled upon."

We shook hands, and bound the bargain, and as we did so, the light that had wavered and flickered, and revealed the desperate fight, between the robber and the snake, suddenly died out, and left us in darkness.

And then we heard gentle steps upon the floor, and a snuffing, as though some animal was pawing over the bodies, and while we were listening to discover who our new visitor was, I felt something cold touch my hand, and I started in alarm; but my fears quickly vanished, for I found that Rover had recovered from his fright, and had come back in search of his master. The poor dog! I could not blame him for deserting us, considering the character of our late visitor.

The brute curled down beside us, and sat and listened to our conversation through the night, but during that period his ears were raised as though waiting a repet.i.tion of the sound that had alarmed him hours before.

"I saw you move your hand towards your revolver," I said, addressing Fred; "why did you not use it before the snake attacked the poor fellow?"

"Because, while looking at the monster, a feeling came over me that I cannot at this moment account for. I had regarded the snake with the utmost dread and abhorrence, until all at once I thought that I did not appear to look upon him with the same disgust, and the longer that I gazed, the more fascinated I became, and I could not have harmed the reptile, had my life depended upon my actions."

It was singular, but his feelings were the same that I had experienced, and I refer the matter to scientific gentlemen, and desire them to solve the question. Can a black snake, by the aid of lamp light, fascinate two men, separated a distance of three yards, so that they lose all mastery over their actions, and are impelled, by a power that appears uncontrollable, to approach an object that they most dread on earth?

It seems a strange story, yet it is a true one: I will give the dimensions of the reptile, so that the public may know that it was no puny monster. Its length was exactly thirteen feet, five inches and a quarter, and its circ.u.mference was thirteen inches and a half. The snake was of the Diamond species, and grows quite large in Australia. I have heard of even larger ones being destroyed, but I thank fortune that I never met them during my residence. Their bites are not of a poisonous nature, but their fangs are so large and strong that they inflict an awkward wound; and in one case, when a miner was bitten, all efforts to stop the flow of blood were futile, and the poor fellow bled to death.

This occurred at Ballarat, soon after we located in that cheerful place, and Fred and myself were both sent for to investigate the case. We judged that the fangs of the snake had struck an artery, and this supposition, I have, since my return to this country, found to be correct.

There is quite a number of species of the serpent tribe in Australia, whose bite is death; but there is one kind, of a bright orange color, with a dark ring around the neck, that is very venomous. I once saw a miner bitten by one, and in defiance of all exertions that were made to save his life, the poor fellow died in less than an hour. We cauterized the wound with a hot iron, and at the same time compelled him to swallow huge draughts of raw whiskey; but to no purpose. In twenty minutes after he was bitten, the miner began to swell--in half an hour he could not swallow another drop of liquor, although what he had taken apparently had no effect upon him. In three quarters of an hour he was speechless, and in fifty-five minutes he was dead. That was quick work for the poison, and proves that the snakes of Australia are more venomous than the rattlesnake of America. Luckily, the orange colored snakes are not numerous, and I only saw three during my residence on the island, and I suffer no compunctions of conscience when I acknowledge that I a.s.sisted to kill them.

But the saddest part of the story connected with the miner's death remains to be told. After he was dead, no one would go near him, or a.s.sist to give the body a decent burial. Fred offered a handsome sum to any one who would do so, but all declined, until an American, whose heart was not contaminated by bad influence, gathered pieces of boards and made a coffin, and then a.s.sisted us to dig a grave on the hill-side, where we deposited the remains of the unfortunate man, to take his last rest.

Fred and I sat in the dark, conversing in a low tone, and starting at every sound, expecting to hear the slimy crawling of another snake; but in this we were disappointed, and happily so. As soon as daylight appeared, we started towards the hut of the inspector, situated at no great distance from our so-called store. Mr. Brown was asleep when we called, and it was with some difficulty that we aroused him.

"Hullo!" he exclaimed, at length, raising his head from his hard couch, and rubbing his eyes; "what's the matter? The store hasn't burned down, has it, and destroyed all the stock in trade?"

"Worse than that," returned Fred.

"Then a great misfortune must have occurred. What is it? If I can a.s.sist in any thing, I'll get up; if not, I'm going to sleep an hour or two longer. The miners had a meeting last evening, and what with bad rum and long resolutions, they kept me pretty busy until an hour since."

"Then make up your mind that you'll have no more sleep until our business is finished. Come, get up and take breakfast with us," Fred rejoined.

"That invitation is sufficient to make a hungry man forget sleep for a week. I'm with you."

The inspector gave himself a shake, and was dressed and ready to accompany us. He left word with one of his men, who was on duty, where he could be found in case he was wanted, and then declared that he was ready.

As we walked along, we told him of the visit that we had received the night before, and he listened without any expression of astonishment.

When we reached the store things remained as we had left them, with blood scattered over the floor, and on the overturned boxes and barrels, while nearly side by side were the bodies of the snake and the robber.

Mr. Brown stooped down and examined the face of the corpse for a few minutes attentively.

"I knew that fellow would come to some bad end," the inspector said, "for he was a friend of Burley's, and many a robbery have they committed together, that never came to light."

"You might have cautioned us against him," remarked Fred.

"So I might, had I but known he was in Ballarat. I have not seen or heard of the fellow before for two months, and I thought that he was either shot or hanged, as he certainly should have been a year ago. He must have arrived here yesterday afternoon, and Burley told him that you had money, and that he could make a good thing in avenging his injuries and stealing your gold. I am glad to say that he was caught in his own trap, and I shall always cherish the name of a diamond snake for the good that one of them has done in ridding us of a ruffian who would have robbed his mother, and beat her in the bargain."

"But the snake--what do you think of that?" we asked.

"I have seen larger ones, though I will quiet your fears by saying not in this part of Australia. They are not so dangerous as they look, and seldom attack a man unless frightened into the encounter. A few miles from Ballarat is a colony of the same kind of reptiles, and it's something of a curiosity to see the monsters squirming about during a pleasant forenoon."

"Have you seen them often?" asked Fred.

"O, yes, I have seen them a dozen times, perhaps." "We have nothing of importance to attend to, for a few days, and would like to visit the colony. Will you go with us?"

"Willingly," replied the inspector. "Appoint your day."

"Say to-morrow forenoon. Our horses will feel better for the jaunt, and so shall we," Fred said.

"To-morrow forenoon we will go; and now, before we take breakfast, let us get rid of these enc.u.mbrances."

He pointed to the bodies on the floor, and while we were wondering what we should do with them, the inspector called a policeman, and directed him to find a cart and carry them off, and for all that we know to the contrary, they were both buried in the same grave. At any rate, the skin of the snake, which we had requested as a trophy, was returned to us, and by the aid of a quant.i.ty of a.r.s.enic, we were enabled to preserve it, and send it to Murden as a sample of one of the staple articles of the mines.

As soon as the bodies were removed, we went to work and cleaned our store, and then prepared breakfast, and I am happy to be able to record it, that the horrors of the night had no sensible effect upon our appet.i.tes.

CHAPTER XLI.

VISIT TO SNAKES' PARADISE.

We spent the day in idleness, for the adventures of the preceding night were too harrowing to allow our minds to become settled on any kind of work. It is true that we had many questions to answer, and that numerous visitors thronged our store from sunrise until dark; but after repeating our story to our friend Charley, he took upon himself the important situation of narrator of the snake's doings, and by that means we were entirely relieved of a disagreeable duty.

Our California friend--never a great stickler for truth--embellished his version of the affair in such glowing colors, and set forth the courage that we had displayed in the fight in such a guise that we really began to think that our conduct was not so very tame, after all, and that we were worthy of the congratulations showered upon us by the admiring miners, who vowed that when our stock of goods was in, we were the men for their money.

At length, however, the last visitor had taken his departure, with the exception of Charley. He hung around, as though he had some important duty yet unperformed, but what it was we were at a loss to know until he disclosed it.

"We did pretty well, didn't we?" he asked, taking a seat by our rickety supper table.

"In getting the crowd off? Yes, we feel much obliged to you," Fred rejoined.

"O, tain't that. I mean 'bout making the fellers believe all I told um."

"Why, I must say that I think you disregarded the truth slightly, in your account of the adventures."

"O, I know that I did; but don't you see that it was all 'cos I wanted to make ye popular with the ma.s.ses, and one of these days you'll get elevated to pay for it. I knew that you fellers was frightened to death when you seed the snake, but of course I wasn't going to say so, 'cos if I had, it would have sp'ilt all. O, no; I know'd better than all that, by a long chalk. Putty good coffee this, ain't it?"

We were silent with astonishment and admiration at his matchless impudence.