EYE-BEAMS 129 



large branch of the pine, and, stretched out on top 

 of the limb, thought himself quite hidden. And 

 so he was; but we knew his hiding-place, and the 

 stones and clubs we hurled soon made him uneasy. 

 Presently a club struck the branch with such force 

 that he was fairly dislodged, but saved himself by 

 quickly wrapping his tail about the limb. In this 

 position he hung for some moments, but the inter- 

 vening branches shielded him pretty well from our 

 missiles, and he soon recovered himself and gained 

 a still higher branch that reached out over the road 

 and nearly made a bridge to the trees on the other 

 side. 



Seeing the monster was likely to escape us, unless 

 we assailed him at closer quarters, I determined to 

 climb the tree. A smaller tree growing near helped 

 me up to the first branches, where the ascent was 

 not very difficult. I finally reached the branch 

 upon which the snake was carefully poised, and be- 

 gan shaking it. But he did not come down; he 

 wrapped his tail about it, and defied me. My own 

 position was precarious, and I was obliged to move 

 with great circumspection. 



After much manoeuvring I succeeded in arming 

 myself with a dry branch eight or ten feet long, 

 where I had the serpent at a disadvantage. He 

 kept his hold well. I clubbed him about from 

 branch to branch, while my friends, with cautions 

 and directions, looked on from beneath. Neither 

 man nor snake will indulge in very lively antics in 

 a treetop thirty or forty feet from the ground. But 



