“Is it really as bad as that?” Apparently Rice had underestimated the seriousness of the situation. “Oh, worse. It was bad enough in ordinary times, but this year the drought is driving all the snakes to the river. They like the huts of the men to use as hiding places, and are always dropping down out of the thatched roofs or crawling over the floor at night; they even get into the hammocks. I have never seen anything like it. Mariano found a twenty-foot anaconda in his hammock the night before we left; that’s why no one has seen Mariano since--he left camp in such a hurry he did not even take his clothes.” “Snakes or no snakes, the rubber crop must be gathered.” Rice seemed to have made up his mind and spoke with an air of finality. “Soon the rains will be here and then the season will be over. You must get more men and try it again; we must have the rubber even if you lose every single man in the end.” “We can fight against the Indians and the snakes,” the foreman ventured, timidly, “but there is one thing we can’t overcome and that is the fever. There never was so much of it as this year--on account of the drought, they say. Most of the men who escaped the other two plagues are too sick to work.” “Don’t tell me any more!” Rice thundered. “I’ve got troubles of my own. It’s up to you to harvest that rubber, so go do it. You are the foreman. Do anything you want to. Take every soul on the place; it don’t matter if none gets back alive, just so you bring back the rubber. Now, get out and do something.” The foreman did not wait to hear more. He quickly made for the door and disappeared. David was alone again with the viper. He was speechless with amazement at the things he had just heard. Had he been given his choice now, it is but natural that the first impulse would have been to start for home as soon as possible. But he was not asked to make known his desires. “I’ve changed my mind about you,” Rice bellowed. “You will stay. You’ll make one more hand to get that rubber crop in before the rains start--even if you’re nothing but a boy. Can you swim?” “Yes,” David answered meekly. “Can you ride a horse?” “Yes.” “Can you throw a rope?” “No. I never tried, but I can learn.”