nd feeling that it would hurt him to profess to greater knowledge than
his brother.

"Nonsense! I'm sure you do know," said Mr Rogers impatiently.

"Is it the puff-adder, father?" said Dick hesitatingly.

"Of course it is, and you ought to have known the deadly pest. No, no,
don't waste a charge upon it, and it may alarm any game. Let one of the
boys kill it."

That was soon done, for Chicory made a sign to his brother, who touched
the puff-adder's tail and began to irritate it, making it turn and
strike viciously at the blade of his assegai.

That was what Chicory wanted.

The next moment his blade whished through the air, and the puff-adder's
head lay upon the ground.

"You cannot be too careful, boys," said Mr Rogers, picking up the flat
spade-shaped head, and opening the jaws with the point of his knife.

"Look, boys," he continued, as he made the jaws gape, and then raised up
a couple of keen transparent fangs that lay back upon the roof of the
creature's mouth. "Do you see? There are the hollow fangs through
which a drop of deadly poison is injected in the blood and causes death.
Don't let's destroy life unnecessarily; but if we want food, or come
across any poisonous or dangerous beast, I think it is sentimentality to
refrain from ridding the world of such a pest."

Dick felt very ignorant, and wished he had known better; but he could
not help being pleased at his brother's manner; and the incident was
forgotten the next moment in one of those natural history adventures of
which they had all read, but had little expected to share in their
lives.

As they had climbed higher they had found the mountain more rugged, and
broken up into deep crevices and defiles, all of which were full of
interesting objects--flowers, plants, and foliage--such as they had
never before seen; while in the sheltered and often intense heat,
beetles and butterflies seemed to have found these rifts a perfect
paradise.

Dick had gone on first, and turning a corner he had found quite a rugged
shelf running alone the steep side of a ravine, the bottom of which was
carpeted with flowers that grew amongst the stones.

It was a very interesting spot, but as it seemed to lead right away into
the heart of the mountain he was about to turn back and rejoin his
party, when he caught sight of a gracefully-shaped large-eared gazelle
about fifty yards away, gazing apparently in another direction.

He could have shot it easily, but it