Three times by the right and then three times by the left those heads
circled, in rhythmic cadence, while the luminous eyes seemed to leave
phosphorescent rings in the air, intersecting one another in consequence
of the rapidity of the motion.
It was such a spectacle as I had never beheld in the wildest dream. It
was baleful. It was the charm of the serpent fascinating his terrified
prey. In an instant I felt my brain turning, and I staggered in spite of
my utmost efforts. A kind of paralysis stiffened my limbs.
Presently, all moving together, and uttering a hissing, whistling sound,
they began slowly to approach us, keeping in line, each shaggy leg lifted
at the same moment, like so many soldiers on parade, while the heads
continued to swing, and the glowing eyes to cut linked circles in the
air. But for Edmund we should certainly have been lost. Standing a little
to the fore, he spoke to us over his shoulder, in a low voice:
"Take out your pistols, but don't shoot unless they make a rush. Then
kill as many as you can. I'll knock over the leader in the center, and I
think that will be enough."
We could as easily have stirred our arms if we had been marble statues,
but he promptly raised his pistol, and the explosion followed on the
instant.
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