The Argosy — page 149: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE RIVER OF DARKNESS, 341 There was no necessity for a second shot. ‘The death agony began right there, and in its convulsive throes the serpent flung himself back into the water, and with a final quiver disappeared in the depths of the lake, leaving a trail of blood on the silvery white sand behind him. With expressions of gratitude for their escape, all hurried down to the broken canoe. ‘‘A hundred men could never put this together again,’’ said Guy, as he pulled a couple of floating fragments from the water. The torches and rugs were easily procured, and laid away to dry, but the lamp and the oil cask could not be found. ‘They were probably at the bot- tom, but no one cared to dive after them. ‘That was the closest shave I ever saw,’’ saidthe colonel. ‘‘I gave you both up for lost, and as for that daring act of yours, Chutney, I cannot find words to express my admiration. Vou saved Sir Arthur’s life.’ Guy modestly made no reply. He calmly pulled on his jacket and shoes, and suggested that they cross the island and take a look at the other serpent. The reptile was found to be quite dead, and little wonder, after all the spears that had entered his coils. As near as they could judge, he was be- tween thirty and forty feet long, with a body as thick as a small keg. ‘The skin was repulsive and slimy, of a dirty green color. ‘It’s a regular sea serpent,’’ said Melton. ‘‘ What a sensation a mon- ster of this kind would make if he was put on exhibition at the Zoo.” ‘And the other one was fully as large,’ added Guy. ‘‘ That makes no less than four we have already encountered. There must be a great many in the river and lake.’’ One glimpse of the creature sickened Sir Arthur. He turned away and sat down on the edge of the raft. Up to this moment the excitement had banished all else from their minds. They had fought a desperate fight for life and conquered. At the very flush of their success the shadow of certain death returned, blacker and more for- bidding than ever, and in a moment their triumphant feelings were changed to deepest melancholy. “A short time before, under the influence of the colonel’s philosophical words, they had felt in some manner resigned to a fate that nothing could avert. Now it was ten times more horrible and loathsome to contemplate, ten times harder to realize. Absurd as it seemed, fresh hope sprang up in their hearts, and they tried to reason themselves into the belief that some unlooked for chance of escape would offer itself yet. ~Even the colonel’s mood had changed, and it was easy to see that he was struggling with some terrible emotion. The desire for life that was strong within him suggested to Guy a new plan ; nothing, indeed, that offered any hope of escape, but merely a solution to his curiosity. He remembered that on each occasion when their canoe had been caught by the influx of the river it had been carried direct to this island, a fact Commicooolxs (S@)