Strange creaks and quacks and croaks broke out, sudden snappings of twigs, a scurry among dead leaves, a splash in the water, the far whir of wings.

There were no insect noises, no resonant voices of bull-frogs; weird squeaks arose at intervals, the murmuring complaint of water-fowl, guttural quack of duck and bittern--a vague stirring everywhere of wild things settling to rest or awaking.

There were things moving in the unseen ooze, too, leaving sudden sinuous trails in the dim but growing lustre that whitened above the trees--probably turtles, perhaps snakes.
She leaned almost imperceptibly toward him, and he moved his shoulder close to hers.
"You are not nervous, Shiela ?" "Indeed I am." "Why on earth did you come ?" "I don't know.

The idea of snakes in darkness always worries me....
Once, waking in camp, reaching out through the darkness for the water-bottle, I laid my hand on an exceedingly chilly snake.

It was a harmless one, but I nearly died....