Returning to the bedroom, he
lifted up with the point of his stick the sheets, blankets, and
pillows, took them outside, and hung them on the fence. Next he
turned over the mattress slowly, but there was nothing to be seen
under it. He poked the mattress with the blunt end of his stick here
and there, and he soon saw that something was moving inside. "Ah!"
he said, "there you are, my friend." The thought of having slept two
nights on a live snake made him shudder a little, but he was bent on
vengeance. He took hold of one end of the mattress with one hand,
and holding the stick in the other, he carried it outside and laid it
on the grass. Looking carefully at every side of the mattress he
discovered the hole through which the snake had entered. It was so
small that he could scarcely believe that a snake had gone through
it, but no other hole was anywhere visible. Philip said, "If the
beast comes out it shall be through fire," so he picked up a few
pieces of bark which he placed over the hole, and set on fire. The
straw inside was soon in a blaze, and the snake was lively. His
situation was desperate, and his movements could be traced by the
rising and falling of the ticking. Philip said, "My friend, you are
looking for a hole, but when you find it it will be a hot one." The
snake at last made a dash for life through the fire, and actually
came out into the open air.
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