the regular track of riders, and it might be days or weeks before he
would be discovered. He suffered great pain in his injured limb, and
very soon the tortures of thirst began, to be followed later in the day
by those of hunger.

"All the rest of the day and all through the night he lay there in great
suffering and wondering if relief would ever come. Along towards morning
he heard a rustling in the grass near him, and then other similar
sounds, which he soon concluded were caused by snakes. When daylight
came he found that his fears and horrors were realized. Moving around
him were several serpents, and they manifested a tendency to approach
nearer and nearer. Some of them went away as the sun rose and the full
light of day shone upon him, but others remained in his immediate
neighborhood. He beat the ground with the butt of his whip in the hope
of scaring them away; his effort was partially successful but not wholly
so. One large snake came close to his side and actually traversed his
body. He dared not make a motion, for fear the serpent would turn upon
him and inflict a fatal bite. He lay there as still as a block of marble
till the snake, having satisfied his curiosity, glided away into the
grass.

"All through the afternoon and until we found him, the reptiles remained
there. They seemed to understand that the man was disabled, and
evidently they were determined to take their own time in enjoying his
sufferings. This was the state of affairs when we found him. He said
that when he heard our call he almost feared to reply, lest it should
rouse his unpleasant neighbors and cause them to take the aggressive.

"We killed two of the snakes not a dozen yards from where the man was
lying, and if we had made a vigorous search, it is probable that we
could have despatched more of them. We brought the man to the house as
quickly as possible, improvising a rude sort of litter, which was
carried, with the man upon it, by two of our blacks. Two of us relieved
them occasionally, when they were wearied of carrying the burden. In a
short time the man was well again, but he said that the horrors of that
night were too much for him, and he would seek some other occupation
than that of stock-rider. He left us as soon as he recovered, and I
don't know what became of him."

"That reminds me," said another of the party, "of the case of a man who
met with a similar accident, being thrown from his horse and getting a
broken leg. T