CHAPTER XIII
The Hideous Reptile
"A horned viper!" exclaimed Bob fearfully, recognizing the long,sinister body that was coiled almost at their feet.
"And it's going to strike!" cried Joe. "Get your pistol--quick! We'llboth fire at it. Oh, how I wish we had our rifles!"
The snake was preparing to lunge forward, its terrible head swayingslowly from side to side. Whether or not the fangs contained poison,the boys did not know, but they knew they could not take a chance.
Neither Bob nor Joe was an outstanding shot with a revolver, and theyfelt rather panic-stricken as they raised the weapons and took aim.
After a few seconds that seemed to the youths like hours, Bob pulledthe trigger.
A moment later the cold sweat burst out on his forehead, as he sawthat he had missed. Before he could take another aim, the reptilewould be upon him, a mass of scaly ferocity.
Bang!
Joe's pistol spoke out, and the bullet caught the snake in the neck,just as it was about to strike.
Another shot from Joe's automatic struck in a vital spot. The fiendishhead turned violently, then fell to the ground with a thud. The tailtwitched about momentarily, and as life passed out, the horrible bodylay still.
It was some time before Bob and Joe could regain their natural peaceof mind, for the strain had been great. Their hearts were beatingrapidly from the unusual mental exertion.
"A narrow escape!" breathed Joe, putting his gun back in its holster.
"Thanks to you, old boy, we came out alive," praised Bob, giving hisfriend an affectionate pat on the back. "It was your coolness anddetermination that sent those bullets in the right place. I was toonervous, I guess."
"But say," began Joe, turning aside the commendation of his friend,"our dads might want this fellow as a specimen. Do you suppose theywould? Those bullets didn't shatter it as a rifle cartridge wouldhave."
The youths were not particularly anxious to handle the long, scalybody, but they felt it their duty to do all they could for theirfathers.
"What say we take it to the edge of the hill and roll it down?"suggested Bob. "The way is gradual and there are no protruding cragsto tear it."
"All right. We never can carry it without falling ourselves."
The reptile was pushed over the side of the dune, and the boys madetheir way down. They slid more than climbed, but reached the bottomuninjured.
Mr. Lewis came out to meet them, on his face a look of anxiety.
"What kept you so long?" he asked.
"That over there," replied Joe, pointing to the snake, which lay but afew feet away.
The naturalist ran over to it. Then he straightened up in surprise.
"A horned viper," he pronounced. "Where'd you find it?"
Bob related the narrow escape at the top of the dune, not forgettingto point out Joe's part in killing the reptile. When he had finished,Mr. Lewis shook his head gravely.
"Never leave camp without your rifles," he warned them. "In a strangeland anything is likely to happen."
During breakfast the youths' experience with the viper was the chieftopic for conversation. Tishmak looked at the boys with a new respectas he heard the account of their daring deed.
As soon as the morning meal was over, the tent and provisions werepacked back on the dromedaries, and the explorers continued theirjourney.
"How much ground did we probably cover yesterday?" asked Dr. Kirshnerof Fekmah, as they followed a narrow way between the rolling sanddunes.
"At least a hundred miles," the Arab answered. "Perhaps many more.Dromedaries trot rather rapid."
"Then, at that rate, it shouldn't take us so very long to reach theAhaggaras, should it?" asked Joe, who with Bob had not yet taken hisplace at the end of the caravan.
"No. But something could keep us back. Maybe storm, or could bebandits. Never know about that."
As the explorers moved on, they occasionally saw small animals andbirds. The naturalists were constantly on the lookout, shooting anycreature that came within range of their guns. Among the victims oftheir marksmanship were desert larks, rats, hares, lizards, and asmall animal called the ferrec.
Bob and Joe kept their time occupied in taking motion pictures of thecountry they were passing through. By the time that their caravan hadstopped for the midday meal, the boys had "rolled off" a good manyhundred feet of film.
"Here's hoping our moving pictures here prove to be as successful asthose that we took in Brazil," said Joe, as he took out a bag ofrations from a camel's pack.
"If they do, the Neuman Film Corporation may give us a job on everyfuture expedition we might make with our dads," came from Bob.
Thus far the day's traveling had not yet brought them to an oasis.Tishmak informed them that water would probably not be found untillate the next night. The containers, however, held a large supply,making it unnecessary for the explorers to worry.
"It's a good thing the dromedaries don't need it often," said Mr.Lewis, as he went about preparing the meal.
"Four or five days is often enough for them," put in Mr. Holton. "Theycan go much longer than that, but it isn't wise to risk it."
It was about eleven o'clock, the time advisable to begin the usualafternoon rest. Bob and Joe were glad of the chance to escape the heatof the fierce sun. Even in the morning it was too hot for comfort,although nothing compared to the baking atmosphere of the afternoon.The youths were tanned so dark as to resemble Arabs.
"Funny," smiled Joe. "Back in the United States we fellows wanted toget burned by the sun. Here we try to keep out from under it."
"All goes to prove that circumstances alter cases," laughed Dr.Kirshner.
The tent was again pitched, and the meal eaten. This time, however,water was used sparingly. The adventurers did not wish to run the riskof getting dangerously short.
It was thought best to set a guard again while the others slept oridly rested on the cool sand. Mr. Holton took the job, sitting in theshade of the tent facing the resting dromedaries.
"Chances are nothing will turn up, though," he said, and proved to beright.
Sharply at three o'clock Dr. Kirshner was up stretching himself andsuggesting that they continue the journey.
"It isn't the thing to wait too long," he reminded his friends, "evenif we are drowsy. By night we want to have covered another hundredmiles or more. I'm especially anxious to reach the mountainous regionand see what I can find in the way of records of ancient peoples whomight have lived there before the desert became a desert," he added,laughing.
The others were more than willing to start on. When sleepiness ordrowsiness threatened to overpower them at the wrong time, the thoughtof the two thieves who had stolen Fekmah's map spurred them on toaction.
"I don't know that it is necessary to set a guard while we take ourafternoon rests," remarked Fekmah casually, as they packed the tentback in its place for the journey.
The Americans looked at him wonderingly.
"The dromedaries will give us warning," he explained. "They are muchuneasy if stranger come near camp. They jump up and make noise."
"A bit like watchdogs, are they?" said Mr. Holton. "Well, we'll givethem a tryout the next time."
They again took up the journey, winding in and out among the rollingsand hills. Occasionally they would come to a dune several hundredfeet high. They seemed to be gradually mounting higher, for the camelsdid not move as rapidly as before.
Vegetation increased still more, giving the dromedaries an opportunityto nibble often on the various plants and shrubs. A few scatteredtrees began to be seen, their sharp thorns protruding threateningly.
"Camels don't bother with thorns," remarked Bob. "They know just whereto take a mouthful without cutting their mouths."
"And they aren't particular about their diet, either," Joe added,remembering what Fekmah had told him some time before. "Leather,paper, wood--almost anything will satisfy their appetites."
At last they came to the region of hig
h sand dunes that were visiblethe day before. Many of the hills towered five and six hundred feet,and a few were much higher than that. The explorers were lucky infinding a narrow lane that passed between the mounds. How long thegood fortune would continue, they did not know.
"Getting to look more like the dunes in Indiana, back in the UnitedStates," remarked Joe. "But of course these stretch a hundred times asfar."
In some places the ground was hard and brittle, while in others it wasstrewn with loose sand.
At last the lane stopped, and the adventurers found themselves face toface with a high hill.
"Guess we'll have to climb it," said Mr. Holton, looking about. "Thereis no other way out. The sand seems to be hard and safe enough. And itcould be a great deal steeper."
"Let dromedaries go slowly," cautioned Fekmah. "Do not hurry them."
They began the dangerous ascent, keeping their eyes glued to theground. Slowly the camels trudged up, feeling their steps carefully.
They were almost to the top when suddenly the ground gave way fromunder Joe's dromedary. The animal fell to its knees, struggled for amoment, and fell backward.
With a wild shout Joe plunged from the animal's back and went rollinghelplessly down the hill!