Part 10 (1/2)

”Surely,” replied the snake. ”We serpents are the wisest of all creatures, not even excepting you big elephants. For we have to stay so low down on the ground that we would easily be stepped on and killed by other beasts, if we were not wise enough to keep out of the way. So, though I have not seen your mother, or the elephant herd, I can find them for you.”

”How did you know I was looking for my mother?” asked Umboo. ”I did not tell you that.”

”No, but you told the rhinoceros,” said the snake.

”Ha! Then you must have very good ears, Mrs. Snake, to have heard that, for it was a long way from here,” said Umboo. ”You must have very good ears indeed, though they are not as large as mine. In fact I can not see them at all.”

”Never mind about my ears,” said the snake. ”I told you we serpents were very wise. We know many things. And now, if you please, follow me and I will show you the way through the jungle to where your mother is, and the rest of the herd. But as I have to crawl along on the ground, please be careful not to step on me. We snakes do not like to be stepped on.”

”I'll be careful,” promised Umboo.

Then the snake glided, or crawled, along through the jungle, and Umboo, watching which way she went, followed, carrying in his trunk the branch of palm nuts for his mother.

On and on went the snake, now and then stopping to coil and raise her head above the ground so she might listen. The water drops glistened on her s.h.i.+ny scales, and she was very beautiful in color, though she was so dangerous and deadly.

”What are you stopping for?” asked Umboo at one time.

”I am trying to listen to hear the tramp of the herd of elephants,”

the snake answered. ”Do not make any noise.”

So Umboo stood still, and was very quiet, but he could hear nothing.

However, the snake must have heard, for she uncoiled herself and started off another way, saying:

”Follow me, Umboo.”

”How did you know my name was Umboo?” asked the elephant boy. ”I did not tell you that.”

”We serpents are wise, and know many things,” was the answer, and Umboo began to believe that.

”It is a good thing I met her,” he said to himself, as he followed the glistening snake through the jungle. ”I am glad I did not step on her as I was first going to do.”

On and on through the jungle went Umboo, following the guiding snake, whose glistening scales and bright colors he could easily see amid the green leaves and bushes. At last the snake came to a stop and once more coiled and reared up her head.

”Make no noise, big elephant boy!” she hissed.

Umboo stood still and was very quiet.

”Ha! I thought so!” said the snake. ”Go over that way,” and she pointed with her head. ”Walk about a mile, straight along, and you will come to your mother and the herd of elephants.”

”How do you know?” asked Umboo.

”Because I can hear them,” answered the snake. ”I can hear the tramping of their big feet. I can hear them trumpeting through their long noses of trunks, and I can hear them tearing down the tree branches and stripping off the bark. That is how I know.

”I would go closer, and take you nearer to them, but some of them might step on me, without finding out first, that I would do them no harm. But you can easily find your way from here. Keep straight on,”

said the snake.

”Thank you, I will,” answered Umboo. ”I would give you some of these palm nuts, only I am saving them for my mother.”