And I Simply Could
Not Keep Away From It; The Desire To Look Again At That Strange Being
Was Too Strong.
I began to visit the place again, day after day, and
would hang about the borders of the barren weedy ground watching and
listening, and still no black serpent appeared.
Then one day I
ventured, though in fear and trembling, to go right in among the
weeds, and still finding nothing began to advance step by step until I
was right in the middle of the weedy ground and stood there a long
time, waiting and watching. All I wanted was just to see it once more,
and I had made up my mind that immediately on its appearance, if it
did appear, I would take to my heels. It was when standing in this
central spot that once again that slight rustling sound, like that of
a few days before, reached my straining sense and sent an icy chill
down my back. And there, within six inches of my toes, appeared the
black head and neck, followed by the long, seemingly endless body. I
dared not move, since to have attempted flight might have been fatal.
The weeds were thinnest here, and the black head and slow-moving black
coil could be followed by the eye for a little distance. About a yard
from me there was a hole in the ground about the circumference of a
breakfast-cup at the top, and into this hole the serpent put his head
and slowly, slowly drew himself in, while I stood waiting until the
whole body to the tip of the tail had vanished and all danger was
over.
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