The Indian then left, explaining by signs, that they were to be fed on mice, small birds, and flies.
I went out and found a man to make me the cages, then returned to think out my new idea. Why should I not be the man to find an antidote?
I remembered having heard of one or two cases in which men had boasted of finding it and lost their lives in consequence of experimenting upon themselves.
But, in my case, if I should have the luck to find one, I would take all precautions by first experimenting on dogs, cats, or any other animal I could procure, until I felt confident it was infallible.
And then—
Well, if I could not get any one else to perform on I would test it on myself.
If it did prove fatal it would not matter. I had no particular object in living.
Everyone I cared for was dead; and there was no soul to whom my death could cause a moment's pain.
And if after death I still had the power of reasoning, I would have the satisfaction of knowing I had died like better men before me, in the cause of science.
But now, perhaps after all, the snakes' fangs
