One after another the boys crawled into the cave-like sleeping place, and selected their various corners. Andy brought in a pine knot, all ablaze from the fire, and held it aloft so that they might see if all was right. A second later Pickles gave a yell, which was followed by a cry of fright from every one of the others. Then a hasty scramble was made for the outside, the boys fairly tumbling over each other in their efforts to escape. And small wonder, for the interior of the cave-hut was alive with snakes! CHAPTER XIV. A FIGHT WITH REPTILES. “Snakes!” yelled Pickles. “Fo’ de land sakes, let dis chile git out!” “Snakes!” echoed each of the others. “We can’t stay in here!” And in less than half a minute every one was outside and several yards away from the entrance to the temporary camp. “Whoever dreamed of the reptiles being there!” burst out Boxy. “We might have known it,” put in Harry. “Snakes always live around rocks.” “But why didn’t we see them first?” questioned Andy. “They were out of sight and half-frozen,” responded Jack. “I suppose our moving around and the heat from the campfire roused them up.” “Wot we gwine to do?” asked Pickles, dolefully. “I wouldn’t go back dar fo’ a billion dollars in cash, by golly, I wouldn’t!” “The blankets and the sled are in there,” put in Andy. “We must get them.” “Yes, we can’t even locate another camp until we have them,” said Harry. “We’d freeze to death without covers.” “I move we fight the snakes and kill them,” remarked Jack. “I don’t believe they are very harmful.” “They may be rattlers!” said Boxy, with a shiver. “And I don’t want to ‘climb the golden stair’ just yet.” “I doubt if they are rattlers,” returned Jack. “And even so, they are not yet warm enough to show much fight. The likelihood is that we can kill them off without much trouble.” The boys talked the matter over, and at length decided to make an attack on the snakes, and thus at least gain possession of their traps. Then if the cave-hut still looked “snaky” they would hunt up a new spot in which to spend the night. Each of the boys provided himself with a torch and a club, and then the opening to the place was enlarged to twice its size. Jack was the first to enter, and the others came closely behind him. The leader quickly killed the first snake to raise its head, and Harry followed with the death of the largest of all of the reptiles. Then torches were stuck up in convenient places and the battle began. At first the snakes were easy victims, but soon the noise and the deaths of their fellows roused up those that remained, and a loud hissing and a lively squirming told that they were angry. They darted to one side and another, and more than one attempted to strike the boys with its fangs.