Did I sleep? Oh, no. Not only the necessity of watching to guard against any intrusion kept me awake, but I had pleasant--nay, joyful--thoughts to dwell upon. I had discovered a secret, at least I thought so, upon which all my future happiness depended; and the happy reveries which followed might well occupy the two or three hours which remained of night. At the end of that time I could perceive a faint greyish light, glimmering through the chinks of the rude shutters; and I thought I might as well reconnoitre the ground without. I did not feel sure that the negroes had quitted the neighbourhood; and though I was inclined to believe that, after what had passed, they would offer us no violence, even if we encountered them; yet there is so much uncertainty and even treachery in the character of all barbarous people that ever I have seen, that I did not like to risk taking Bessy from the shelter of the hut till I was sure the man had gone. Partly removing the shutter, so as to leave perhaps half a hand's breadth for sight, I gazed out upon the wild and desolate scene presented by the Swamp, which looked more wild and desolate than ever, in that dull and unconfirmed light. All was still and quiet; and no moving object met my eye for a moment or two, till I saw the grass agitated slightly, not a couple of steps from the front of the hut. An instant after, a huge rattlesnake dragged himself sluggishly out of the long, dry grass, and crawled lazily towards a little knoll where the light fell most strongly. He seemed as if he were going out to take his morning's walk before his human enemies came abroad. The next instant I beheld one of those beautiful creatures called the king-snake, not half the size of the other, dash out in his checkered coat of jet-black and ivory-white, and dart at the great sluggish reptile. A desperate fight ensued. They coiled one with the other; they bit, they struck at each other with their heads; and I could hardly imagine that the great rattlesnake could not easily destroy his little antagonist. But I was mistaken. At the end of three minutes, the rattlesnake lay writhing on the ground in the agonies of death, and the king-snake, apparently uninjured, glided round and round several times, evidently calculating whether there was any possibility of swallowing him. That was impossible, however, from the relative size of the two creatures; and, contented with his victory, the brilliant little conqueror glided away. "How happy it would be," I thought, "if, in the world of human life, the reptiles thus destroyed each other--ay, and so they do sometimes." I knew not how soon I should see my fancy verified. While I was thus pondering, I thought I heard a faint and distant sound; but it seemed to me as if, mingled in the noise, were tones of the human voice, and the footfalls of several horses.