" He knew his way to the water-hole
at the end of the garden, but he had to pass the hut, which when he
travelled that way the summer before was unoccupied. After creeping
under the bottom rail of the fence, he raised his head a little, and
looked round. He said, "I see there's another tenant here"--Bruin
was then alive and was sitting on the top of his stump eating gum
leaves--"I never saw that fellow so low down in the world before; I
wonder what he is doing here; been lagged, I suppose for something or
other. He is a stupid, anyway, and won't take any notice even if he
sees me."
Sam and Puss were both blinking their eyes in the shade of the
lightwood, and whisking the flies from their ears. Maggie was
walking about with beak open, showing her parched tongue; the heat
made her low-spirited.
The snake had crept as far as Philip's mattress, which was lying on
the grass, when Maggie saw him. She instantly gave the alarm, "A
snake, a snake!" for she knew he was a bad character. Sam and Puss
jumped up and began to bark; Joey said, "There is na luck aboot the
hoose." Bruin was too stupid to say anything. The snake said, "Here
is a terrible row all at once, I must make for a hole." He had a
keen eye for a hole, and he soon saw one. It was a small one, in
Philip's mattress, almost hidden by the seam, and had been made most
likely by a splinter or a nail.
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