From the story "The Drover's Wife" by Henry Lawson, briefly describe the incident with the snake.

The incident with the snake begins right as the story begins.  Lawson barely finishes with introducing the story's setting, the wife, and the children when one of the children sees a snake near the house.  

Four ragged, dried-up-looking children are playing about the house. Suddenly one of them yells: "Snake! Mother, here's a snake!"

The mother's response is immediate and decisive.  She rushes from the kitchen, scoops up her baby, grabs a stick, and...

The incident with the snake begins right as the story begins.  Lawson barely finishes with introducing the story's setting, the wife, and the children when one of the children sees a snake near the house.  

Four ragged, dried-up-looking children are playing about the house. Suddenly one of them yells: "Snake! Mother, here's a snake!"

The mother's response is immediate and decisive.  She rushes from the kitchen, scoops up her baby, grabs a stick, and runs out to where her child has called from.  Unfortunately, she is too late, and the snake successfully hides inside the wood pile.  Tommy announces to his mother that he can take care of the snake himself.  He believes himself capable because he is also carrying a stick. His mother disagrees and orders him to back away from the wood pile. Despite the seriousness of the situation, it must have been a funny sight to behold.  

The youngster comes reluctantly, carrying a stick bigger than himself. 

As he walks away, Tommy witnesses the snake crawl under the house.  Both Tommy and the dog dash after the snake; however, both arrive too late to stop the snake. The drover's wife then attempts to lure the snake out with a small dish of milk, but that doesn't work.  Sunset is now approaching, and the wife has another problem.   She can't stay outside, because she'll risk being struck by lightning, but she risks the snake by taking her family inside the house.  

It is near sunset, and a thunderstorm is coming. The children must be brought inside. She will not take them into the house, for she knows the snake is there, and may at any moment come up through a crack in the rough slab floor.

Her solution is to rush the kids into the kitchen.  Its floor is made of dirt.  It isn't floorboards above the ground like the rest of the house.  That's where the snake is.  She feels safer in the kitchen because the snake can't attack from below.  The wife places all of the children on the kitchen table, and that is where they will sleep that night.

She makes a bed on the kitchen table for the children, and sits down beside it to watch all night.

The kids all eventually fall asleep, and the wife and dog remain watchful for the snake.  She knows that the snake is still there because the dog is intently staring at a section of the wall.  The entire night passes. Near sunrise, the dog becomes "greatly interested."  The snake slowly makes its way out from its hiding spot, and the dog attacks.  The dog successfully pulls the snake the rest of the way out and then begins to violently shake the snake back and forth.  The dog, Alligator, kills the snake.  

The head rises to dart about, but the dog has the enemy close to the neck. He is a big, heavy dog, but quick as a terrier. He shakes the snake as though he felt the original curse in common with mankind. The eldest boy wakes up, seizes his stick, and tries to get out of bed, but his mother forces him back with a grip of iron. Thud, thud--the snake's back is broken in several places. Thud, thud--its head is crushed, and Alligator's nose skinned again.

The drover's wife then carries the dead snake to the fire and burns it.