22 Bosh-Bosh Oil.

one of the big, shaggy St. Bernard, another of
the Newfoundland, and so on; and each dog-head
was barking its loudest, while the snake-bodies
were writhing wildly from side to side. The
boy’s heart sank.

‘Never, never, can I pass those—those—
things—whatever they are,’ he said. Then he
remembered the poor old man waiting for him.

‘Good dogs, good doggies,” he said, in a
wheedling tone, though his teeth were chattering
with fear.

His answer was louder barking from the dog-
snakes, and wilder writhing from the snake-dogs.
Suddenly he thought of the cracker in his pocket.
Breaking off a piece, he threw it down near the
jug. “Snap,” and one of the dog-snakes had
eaten it, and with apparent relish. Then he broke
up all the crackers into small pieces, and going as
near the big jug as he dared, threw them on the
ground at one side. All the dog-snakes bent at
once to eat them, which for a second left the other
side free, and in that second, but with his heart
beating hard, Gardner darted by. The dogs, find-