even to this day, the belief current with regard to its
presence in the island being that the ancestors of those now found in
the island originally reached it by swimming across the strait from the
mainland, a distance of only some nine miles. They are very fond of the
water, and are not venomous. But George did not know this, therefore it
was all the more courageous of him that he should have determined to
fight rather than retreat from the huge reptile.

The creature was making straight for a small space of smooth, level
beach, free from big boulders and fallen logs, and as this afforded good
firm foothold for a fight, young Saint Leger took up his position there,
and boldly awaited the approach of the monster. The creature came
steadily on, its eyes gleaming balefully; and presently it reached
shallow water, when it suddenly threw its extended body into a coil, and
raised its great head to the level of George's face, its immense jaws
wide open, and its wire-like forked tongue darting and quivering as it
emitted a series of savage hisses that might well have quelled the
courage of the bravest man. But George was one of those peculiarly
constituted people who know not what fear is. Danger but added a
piquant zest to his enjoyment, and steadied instead of upsetting his
nerves. He loved to pit himself, his courage, his coolness, his skill
and his sagacity against what looked like overwhelming odds, and the
formidable aspect of this enormous serpent, which might well have
paralysed another man with terror, only had the effect of bracing him
and filling him with the joy of combat. With his good sword gripped
firmly in his hand he stood his ground, intently watching the movements
of his formidable antagonist, with every muscle of his body tense and
ready for action, and presently, when the python hurled itself at him
with a lightning-like extension of its great coils, the lad as nimbly
bounded aside, and at the same moment dealt a slashing blow at the spot
where, a fraction of a second later, he knew its great head would be. A
jar, which thrilled his sword arm to the shoulder, told him that his
stroke had got home, and the next instant he was violently hurled a
fathom away as the snake's severed head fell to the ground, and the
enormous body, writhing in a thousand terrific convolutions, churned the
blue waters of the basin into diamond-tinted spray. For full ten
minutes the amazed trio stood gazing in breathless a