THE GREEN TREE SNAKE. 
21 I 
upon the dust. A good man once assured me that 
they do this on purpose to eat the dust, and so 
fulfill Genesis iii. 14. But the Green Snake appears 
to be exempted from the curse, and you oftenest 
find it festooning the slender branches of some tree, or 
gliding over the twigs with a swift, imperceptible motion, 
like a clear stream over a mossy rock. This one was 
crossing the road, however, beyond a doubt, when I came 
upon it, and I was puzzled to know what its object could 
be. Of course I know that it was crossing the road 
because it wanted to get to the other side. That occurred 
to me at the time. But I mean, why did it want to get 
to the other side ? 
On the other side, among the grass, was a very large 
black snake — a cobra, I think — and ; if the Green Snake 
had accomplished its purpose, its next course would have 
been, I fear, down the black snake’s throat. But at the 
sound of my footsteps the black snake rustled away, and 
the Green Snake gently raised its head and began darting 
out its long, forked tongue. 
Why do snakes dart out their tongues in that foolish 
way ? Nobody knows, and I cannot even begin to guess 
until I have got an answer to another riddle, more difficult 
P 2 
