One hot day in December I had been standing perfectly still for a few
minutes among the dry weeds when a slight rustling sound came from
near my feet, and glancing down I saw the head and neck of a large
black serpent moving slowly past me. In a moment or two the flat head
was lost to sight among the close-growing weeds, but the long body
continued moving slowly by--so slowly that it hardly appeared to move,
and as the creature must have been not less than six feet long, and
probably more, it took a very long time, while I stood thrilled with
terror, not daring to make the slightest movement, gazing down upon
it. Although so long it was not a thick snake, and as it moved on over
the white ground it had the appearance of a coal-black current flowing
past me--a current not of water or other liquid but of some such
element as quicksilver moving on in a rope-like stream. At last it
vanished, and turning I fled from the ground, thinking that never
again would I venture into or near that frightfully dangerous spot in
spite of its fascination.
Nevertheless I did venture. The image of that black mysterious serpent
was always in my mind from the moment of waking in the morning until I
fell asleep at night. Yet I never said a word about the snake to any
one: it was my secret, and I knew it was a dangerous secret, but I did
not want to be told not to visit that spot again.
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