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We are brought into a barren outback environment and to a family surviving in a small wooden house with two houses and to the main character the drovers wife. A snake appears outside which is spotted by one of the children and then is goes to hide in the log pile.
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The snake then moves from the log pile where the mother sees it for the first time and the sight of the snake caused the dog (Alligator) to get free from its chain.
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Alligator chases the snake but just missing it by a second as it slid underneath the house to hide. The mother then gets all the children out onto the veranda. Then while the mother waits for the snake to appear she has flashbacks from all the other hardships that she has faced. Then the Dog Alligator pulls the snake out from underneath the house then where the mother used a stick to beat the snake to death and break its bones.
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With the threat of the snake done one of her sons stands in front of her and says, " 'Mother, I won't never go drovin'; blast me if I do!' "
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The snake is then taken to the fire and burned, "She lifts the mangled reptile on the point of her stick, carries it to the fire, throws it in; then piles on the wood, and watches the snake burn. The boy and dog watch, too."