"Why,
perhaps that old chap might get gay, and grab hold, just when we
expected to go sailing off. That would be a calamity, not only for him,
but the Bird boys in the bargain."
"All right. Then he's got to get his," Frank observed.
"What are you going to do?" demanded the other, nervously.
"Take a crack at his head," came the reply. "Once let a flat-nosed
bullet from this little Marlin hard shooter smack him on the coco, and
there'll be a funeral in the anaconda family."
"But for goodness' sake make sure work of it, Frank. What if you just
wounded the monster? He'd come whirling along at us like a
hurricane. And I'm sure he must be thirty feet long, if he's a
dozen. Look at the thickness of his neck, would you? Be mighty careful,
for his head's swinging a bit, you notice. That was what made me get
sight of him. Say, Frank!"
"Well, hurry up. He may take a notion to move off, and I'd lose my
chance, Andy."
"How'd it do for me to get some fire, and shoo him away?" suggested his
cousin.
"Don't know how it would work," replied Frank, smiling a little,
however, at the faith Andy seemed to have in a blazing brand, now that
he could look back to his late experience with the jaguar. "Never heard
that snakes were afraid of fire. And besides, there's no need. Now keep
quiet, and watch. You'll see something worth while; but be ready to jump
clear.
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