George shivered. Julian and Dick watched in amazement. “It’s a python,” said Julian. “My, what a monster. I’ve never seen one so close before. I wonder it doesn’t wind itself round that fellow and squeeze him to death.”

“He’s got hold of it near the tail,” said Dick, watching “Oh, look — there’s another one!”

Sure enough a second python slid out of the box, coil upon gleaming coil. It too wreathed itself round its owner, making a loud hissing noise as it did so. Its body was thicker than Julian’s calf.

Anne was watching out of her caravan window, hardly able to believe her eyes. She had never in her life seen snakes as big as these. She didn’t even know what they were. She began to wish their caravans were miles and miles away.

The little man quieted his snakes at last. They almost hid him with their great coils! From each side of his neck came a snake’s head, flat and shining.

Timmy was now watching out of the window also, his head beside Anne’s. He was amazed to see the gliding snakes, and stopped barking at once. He got down from the window and went under the table. Timmy didn’t think he liked the look of these new creatures at all!

The man fondled the snakes and then, still speaking to them lovingly, got them back into their box again. They glided in, and piled themselves inside, coil upon coil. The man shut down the lid and locked it.

Then he turned to the three watching children. “You see how upset you make my snakes?” he said. “Now you keep away, you hear? And you keep your dog away too. Ah, you children! Interfering, poking your noses, staring! I do not like children and nor do my snakes. You KEEP AWAY, SEE?”

He shouted the last words so angrily that the three jumped. “Look here,” said Julian, “we only came to say we were sorry our dog barked like that. Dogs always bark at strange things they don’t know or understand. It’s only natural.”

“Dogs, too, I hate,” said the little man, going into his caravan. “You will keep him away from here, especially when I have my snakes out, or one might give him too loving a squeeze. Ha!”

He disappeared into his van and the door shut firmly.

“Not so good,” said Julian. “We seem to have made a bad start with the fair-folk — and I had hoped they would be friendly and let us into some of their secrets.”

“I don’t like the last thing he said,” said George, worried. “A loving squeeze by one of those pythons would be the end of Timmy. I shall certainly keep him away when I see that funny little man taking out his snakes. He really seemed to love them, didn’t he?”

“He certainly did,” said Julian. “Well, I wonder who lives in the second newly-arrived caravan. I feel I hardly dare even to look at it in case it contains gorillas or elephants or hippos, or…”