red-green reptile disappeared from view. It seems the great python had found a hole far above where the three of them watching could no longer see. The sun was beginning to shine its first rays of light on the cave entrance, and no creatures remained in sight.

           Then Sammy the monk winked at the boy, who stood till peering upward to where the larger snake had disappeared. Sammy could see the boy's mouth still open wide, but he was standing tall and still. Sammy could see then that the boy was becoming a young man, for he had faced his fears that night squarely. But the monk said nothing of this. Instead, the monk smiled at the boy looking up at where the snake slid away, and said, plainly,

          "Oh, I forgot to tell you, there are four more pythons who live upstairs!" Sammy's face wore a big smile.

The boy didn't know whether to run, or to laugh - but since he had faced his fear, fair and square, and won, he laughed - laughed the way a boy, who had just become a young man, would laugh with other young men who had faced their fear.

          After they both laughed out loud Sammy wanted to know what the boy would tell his friends. But before the boy could say something Sammy blurted out:

          "If you decide to go out your back door - to search the stream or the woods - for snakes or tigers or Anything bigger than you - bring a dog or two as your faithful friends.

          " According to the monk the snakes care not for the smell of dogs and avoid them at all costs. Thus, Sammy the snake monk would always say,

          "When you go into the jungle, having a dog along is better than walking with many people!"

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