At last, after a long hot lapse of time, during which he had given many a vicious rub to the unclothed parts of his body, and turned again, feeling as if there were far too many b.u.t.tons on his clothes, which instead of confining themselves to their proper duty of holding the said garments in their places, felt as if they had become animate and were engaged in treating his flesh as if it was wax and they were seals.

"Hah!" he sighed, at last, as the sounds grew apparently more dull and distant, Chris's breathing heavy and regular, and a feeling of restful ease began to pervade his being.

"Old Chris is fast asleep, and I'm going off at last. Oh, how tired, how sleepy I do--Ugh!"

He did not rub now, he dared not, and that e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n was like a husky sigh--very low; but it was loud enough to rouse Chris into wakefulness.

"What's the matter?" he whispered.

There was no reply for a few moments, and Chris repeated the question, adding, "Did you speak?"

"I must have been dropping off and dreamed it," thought Chris, but the next moment his name was uttered in a strange whisper.

"Yes? All right! What is it?"

"There's something on me," came back faintly.

"Well, knock it off."

"I daren't. I can't move."

"What, is it so heavy?" said Chris mockingly.

"N-no. I'm afraid it'll bite."

"A skeeter?"

"No," said Ned, more faintly. "Call to your father for help."

"What for? Here, shall I strike a light?"

"N-no. It might make it angry."

"It? It?" said Chris, with all the petulance of one who had been previously disturbed by his bed-fellow's alarms. "What is _it_?"

"Down by the pool--the hot sand--you know--amongst the stones."

"What! A snake?" whispered Chris, alarmed in turn now, and feeling the cold perspiration breaking out on his temples.

"Yes--a rattler."

"Look here, you boys," said a stern voice, in a whisper from close at hand, "I begged you to--"

"A light, father! Be careful!" gasped Chris, and the next moment there was a sharp scratching sound, a flash, and a pale light played over the rec.u.mbent figures.

"Now then, what is it?"

"Oh, it's gone now," groaned Ned. "I felt it glide off when you struck the match, sir."

"Leap off, you mean," said the doctor. "Rats don't glide."

"Oh, it wasn't a rat, sir," said the boy faintly. "It was a rattler."

"Nonsense! Not here."

"Yes, sir; they swarm. Chris and I saw a big one down in the river-bed this afternoon."

"Pooh!" cried the doctor. "But this is your bed, not the river's. It is not likely that one would be here. If there were any about, they'd be a deal more likely to favour me by the fire. You've been dreaming, my boy."

"Oh no, sir. It was too horribly real."

"Real enough, but some little animal--a mouse, more likely," said the doctor, putting out the second match he had lit most carefully. "Look here, have you boys got matches?"

"Yes, father."

"Be careful how you use them, then. This place is as dry as tinder.

Now then, go to sleep."

He backed out of the place, and the boys lay listening to the rustle and crackle of his departing steps.

"Think it was--not a snake, Chris?" said Ned, at last.

"Yes. If it had been a rattler father wouldn't have gone off like that.

You didn't feel it crawl, did you?"

"Yes, right up in my chest, and I bore it till I felt it touch my neck, and then--Oh, it was a horrid sensation!"

"Yes," said Chris slowly, "a horrid sensation, but it wasn't a rattler.

I say, think you can go to sleep now?"

"I'm going to try. But, I say, I never thought that sleeping out in the wilds--"

"We haven't got to the wilds yet," said Chris.

"No, no; but this is bad enough."

"Pooh! We shall get used to it, and think nothing of sleeping anywhere.

I say, I was asleep, and you woke me out of a beautiful dream--such a lovely one."

"Did I?" said Ned, rather uneasily. "What was it?"

"I dreamed that we had found the place just as it is on the map, and you couldn't put your foot down anywhere without treading upon gold; and then your rattlesnake came and spoiled it. Here, I'm going to sleep again to finish that dream. Can't you go now?"

"I'll try," said Ned, who felt horribly ashamed about his false alarm.

But it took no trying. Five minutes later both boys were sleeping soundly after this initiation in what they would have to encounter during their wild journey.