And now, to add to my terrors, I became aware of a low, hissing sound
which seemed to come from all around me, first from one quarter and
then from another. The air seemed to menace me with the hisses that
were borne upon it. Then, in spite of the gloom, by straining my eyes I
could see the cause of this hissing. A number of serpents were crawling
out of the crevices of the rocks around, and making toward me. I
shouted in the hope of frightening them away, but, although they
paused, irresolute, at the sound of my voice, they came on again,
drawing closer every minute. They were of all sizes, some of great
length, black and venomous-looking. One monstrous reptile of the
constrictor species continued to watch me from an adjacent rock upon
which it lay, its forked tongue darting in and out of its mouth. I felt
that my reason was leaving me. Endurance has its limits--I could bear
no more. Death or madness awaited me.
Then a miracle happened. The white eagles, the cause of my mishap, now
proved my salvation. They descended upon the serpents like bolts from
above, carrying them off in their talons to the mountain tops, there to
be devoured at their leisure.
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