The times., 1898-08-14

That was enough. The blacksnake drop
ped his head and gave in. That was the
end of him. The snapper dug a hole and
buried him, then drew itself into itself
again as if nothing had happened to dis
turb 1t. and once more lay quiescent in
the sun.
"'Well. l swan to man. said I TO my
self, If that snapper hasn't gone and set
itself up AGAIN.
$50 l concluded to stay and observe a
while longer. BY and by what should I
observe coming out from among a lot of
stones rod or so beyond the snapper but
a good-siZed rattlesnake. He came de-
Hberately on. straight toward the spot
where the snapper lay, and when he got
there ne never stopped, but climbed right
on the snapper's back, coiled himself up,
and crouched there with his ugly head
raised above the coil and his baleful eyes
fixed on the spot where the snapper's ;
head and neck would be if the snapper
shot them out.
And IL the snapper does shoot 'em
out l said TO myself, that snakes fanSs
will be sunk into EN- just behind the
ears so quick and deep that the snapper
will never know what hurt it,
II felt sorry for the snapper, for /
knew it'd have to be going back into the
water by and by, and it couldn't do that
without sticking its head out from its
shell, so 1 was on the point of rescuing
it from its peril by putting a pistol ball
through the rattler's head when 1 no.
ticed that point of the snapper's nose
come slowly and cautiously out and
presently it's head, until ii was out as
far as the eyes. The snake saw it, too,
but it wasn't out far enough for his pur-
pose yet. and he just waited, glaring and
quivering. I could see the snapper roll
it's eyes back and take an upward glance
at the snake. The prospect didn't suit
and the snapper pulled his head back into
the shell again. This interested me- and
thought 1 had better observe longer be-
fore / took a hand in it, and l have al
ways been glad l did.
1.-The snapper didn't show any disposi.
ton to stick its nose out again. The rat
tier kept his head up and his eyes fixed
so as not to miss any chance. The day
was warm and languid. BY and by OBJ.
served that the snake was getting sleepy
Every little while ne nodded with drows
mess. After a while he couldn't hold his
head up any longer, and he just curlet
1t down in his coil and went to sleep
declare to goodness, could almost heal
that snake snore!
Il began to get sleepy myself, and II
have dropped off to sleep, too, If some
thing hadn't begun to happen just then
I saw the point of the snapper's nose com
ing cautiously out of the she'll again
Pretty soon the head was out so far tha
could see the snapper's eyes. The snap
| per rolled them back. and the outlool
must have been satisfactory, for TIL,
head kept on coming out until 1t was out
neck and all. The snapper began to un
| fold its legs gently until it had risen oil
| all fours, with no more fuss than If thu
reptile had been raised with a hydraulic
| jack. Then away it started toward tn
pond, slow and cautious and careful, as /
| 1t was a trained elephant in circus walk
| ing over it's master. 1t was all done 81
| slick and smooth that the sleeping rat
tier on the snapper's back never knew
| thing about it. 1t took the snapper
| good while to get to the pond, but it go
| there at last with the rattler still snooz
| ing away like drunken fiddler. TIL
snapper slid into the pond as if it ha'
| been creased, and kept its back high AM
| dry above the water as 1t swan stealthil
| along, bearing the unconscious rattle
! further and further from shore, and whe
it had got about 20 feet out into the pom
| the snapper sank like a plummet. 0
| course, the water washed the rattle
from the snapper's back, and the rattle
woke up the most surprised member O
| the animal kingdom that ever was. ii