228 AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES 



mained in the confines of my small enlcosure it 

 was always within striking distance of me, and 

 I realised that my safety lay in either being 

 able to kill it or in waiting for it to depart. 



"The minutes seemed like hours they al- 

 ways do under such circumstances. Finally, the 

 snake turned to one side and began slowly to 

 crawl toward the opposite end of the blind, 

 where the ground-cloth failed to reach the 

 earth and there was space for it to get out. It 

 was within a foot of the opening when its head 

 struck the cloth, and, drawing back suddenly, 

 it paused for a few seconds, then, to my horror, 

 turned and slowly glided back toward me. Be- 

 fore it had covered half the distance, however, 

 it came in contact with the camera tripod and 

 began to slide up one of the legs. 



"At this juncture I decided to try to reach my 

 rifle. While the reptile was fumbling about the 

 camera I carefully reached out, but fate was 

 against me, for I had hardly moved when my 

 coat sleeve grated on the gravel. Slight though 

 the noise was, the cobra heard it, turned its 

 head toward me, and its hood began to inflate. 

 There it stood, quite a third of its body in 

 mid-air, swaying its head from side to side, its 



