"All the better for us," said Grizzel. "If she were strict and fussy
we wouldn't have nearly such a nice time as we do. You have only to
say snake to Miss Hilton and she is ready to faint; it is useful
sometimes."

"Why should you say snake?" asked Mollie, feeling rather relieved to
hear that the elders of the family were away.

"Because there are snakes about, and she is terrified of them,"
Prudence explained.

"Oh dear--so am I, horribly frightened!" Mollie exclaimed. "I never
saw a snake in my life except in the Zoo." "Then how do you know you
are frightened of them?" Grizzel asked. "You only have to be a
little firm with them and they won't do you any harm. I have lived
in Australia for years and years and have never once been bitten."

"I hope I will never meet one when I am alone," Mollie said, shaking
an unconvinced head.

While the other children counted their balls, dried their hands, and
tied on their sunbonnets, Mollie stood still and gazed about her.
The country she saw looked strange and unfamiliar to her eyes. So
far as she could see there seemed to be few trees but gum trees,
with their monotonous foliage and gaunt grey trunks, so different
from the mossy trunks at home in English woods. Here and there one
had fallen, and lay like a giant skeleton on the ground. On all
sides were hills, not very high, but rolling one behind the other
like waves, some wooded and some bare of trees and covered only with