Then--only then--I knew what had happened, and at
the same time I understood the reason of that sudden look of
alarm in her face, the murmuring sounds she had uttered, and the
downward startled glance. Her fears had been solely for my
safety, and she had warned me! Too late! too late! In moving I
had trodden on or touched the serpent with my foot, and it had
bitten me just above the ankle. In a few moments I began to
realize the horror of my position. "Must I die! must I die!
Oh, my God, is there nothing that can save me?" I cried in my
heart.
She was still standing motionless in the same place: her eyes
wandered back from me to the snake; gradually its swaying head
was lowered again, and the coil unwound from her ankle; then it
began to move away, slowly at first, and with the head a little
raised, then faster, and in the end it glided out of sight.
Gone!--but it had left its venom in my blood--O cursed reptile!
Back from watching its retreat, my eyes returned to her face, now
strangely clouded with trouble; her eyes dropped before mine,
while the palms of her hands were pressed together, and the
fingers clasped and unclasped alternately.
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