"Now is the time to seal the fate of our foe," said I to Fritz; and with that we went out with our guns. When we got near, we both took a straight aim, and each put a ball in its head. This made it move with a start, and writhe as if in pain.
"See how its eyes glare on us with rage. Now load your gun, and let us put a bit more lead in him."
Our next shot went in its eyes. It then shook as with a strong spasm, and fell dead on the sand.
A shout of joy brought my wife and the three boys to the spot. The state of fear they had been kept in for three whole days had made them quite ill, but now the joy of Jack and Frank knew no bounds, for they leapt on the snake and beat it as if they would go mad.
My wife said that the death of the boa took a great weight off her mind, for she thought it would lie in wait for us near the Cave, starve us out, and then kill us as it had done the poor ass.
We slit up the snake, and took out the flesh of the ass, which the boys laid in a grave near Tent House. The boa's skin we hung up at the door of the Cave, over which Ernest wrote the words, "No ass to be found here," which we all thought to be a good joke.
One day late in the spring I went with my three sons a long way from
