A SECRET OF THE ORANGE RIVER. 203 



and then Klaas called out in a hoarse voice : 

 ' Allemaghte, sieur, een slang het mij gebissen ' 

 (Almighty, sir, a snake has bitten me). Heavens, 

 what a situation! Cooped up in this frightful 

 burrow, face to face with probably a deadly snake, 

 which had already bitten my companion ! Almost 

 immediately Klaas's voice came back to me in a 

 hoarse guttural whisper, ' I have him by the neck, 

 sieur ; it is a puff-adder, and his teeth are sticking 

 into my shoulder. If you will creep up and lay hold 

 of his tail, which is your side of me, we can settle 

 him; but I can't get his teeth out without your help.' 

 As you will remember, the puff-adder's striking fangs 

 are very curved, and are often difficult to disengage 

 once it has made its strike. Poor Klaas, I felt 

 certain his days must be numbered, but there was 

 nothing for it ; I must help him. 



" Crawling forwards, and feeling my way with 

 fright-benumbed fingers, I touched Klaas's leg. Then, 

 softly moving my left hand, I was suddenly smitten 

 by a horrible writhing tail. I seized it with both 

 hands, and finally gripped the horrid reptile (which 

 I felt to be swollen with rage, as is the brute's 

 habit) in an iron grasp with both hands. Then I 

 felt, in the black darkness, Klaas take a fresh grip 

 of the loathsome creature's neck, and, with an 

 effort, disengage the deadly fangs from his shoulder. 

 Immediately, I felt him draw his knife, and, after 

 a struggle, sever the serpent's head from its body. 

 The head he pushed away to the right, as far out 

 of our course as possible, and then I dragged the 

 writhing body from him, and, shuddering, cast it 

 behind me as far as possible. 



" At that moment I thought that, for the first 



