Frank, with a quick exclamation, drew him back.

"Jump back for your life!" he shouted.

Harry was accustomed to obeying his brother in everything, and jump
backward he did with an agility that would have done credit to a
gymnast. Before he could ask a question Frank's revolver cracked
and a little spit of dust shot up almost at his very feet.

There lay a tiny snake viciously wiggling about in its death agony,
pierced through by Frank's bullet.

It was a rock adder--one of the deadliest of African snakes. Barely
more than three inches in length, and a dull gray in color, it was
small wonder that Harry in his excitement had not seen it as he was
about to jump almost upon it.

"We shall have to be careful," said Frank, as he kicked aside the
still writhing body of the disgusting looking reptile. "There is
just a chance that Muley-Hassan, with the cunning of an Arab, may
have put several more of those customers in here to guard his
ivory."

It was therefore cautiously that the boys proceeded to work at
getting the ivory out of the hole and although they killed three
more of the venomous reptiles it seemed more probable that they had
got in by accident than that the Arab slave-dealer had deliberately
placed them there. By mid afternoon a big pile of ivory lay ready
for transportation to the Golden Eagle Il and only a few more tusks
remained in the hole.