The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-03-17
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ANNA And The RATHER
-~S-}-
BY Mrs. Cornell.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
BY Mrs. Cornell.

~ 'MN'''''9 W AitffT 0Af dI
nounccd 20 her mother
The storm continued 10 rage in th
back yard.
'Shust look at your clothes, 90 now
To the creek wit you! Come not Il
The house until you are cleaned. Ach.
Ex-Sea Captain Schulz, now prunt
grower in the mountain boundary wes
! Of Santa Clara Valley. turned in at tn,
kitchen door.
II don't know what 10 DO Wit the
boy. GO, mine Anna. get the lad a
clean shirt, and take 1t down to the
creek
On Anna's return from the bathing
pool she said softly to her mother.
willie isn't al the creek. Perhaps he
has run or
20 child, don't bother mo about VII
Tie! Hen run back again fast enough,
he's that scared OF the mountains and
The trees"
Anna was conscious Of an under
current Of sympathy with the forlorn
waif her father had brought from the
city some months before The very
love and awe with which the noun
tains filed her imaginative soul gave
/ her comprehension OF the fear with
| which they imbued the dull witted off
spring Of San Francisco cutters.
Willie did not return all that long
August day. The captain and his
American wife spread and dipped
prunes busily on the hot south slope.
. rho
teryals. Household duties went helter-
skelter under Annals management. At
o O'Clock Mrs Schulz, hot and tired
wakened her lazy little daughter. out.
stretched beneath the hol!yhocks and
pOppies I'm the small front garden
For gracious sake, Anna, Hurry.
You've not done the dinner dishes"
Have the COWS Gomez" Anna asked,
resOurccfully.
Land! II | hadn't forgotten about
Willie. Come--hurry, YOu'll have to
go for the cows. I'll wash the dishes"
Anna felt quite in the mood to go for
the COWS. 1t meant an hour or so OF
patting barefooted and bareheaded |
along the soft dust Of the road. or over
the slippery brown grass OF the noun
tain pastures, with tall pines on every |
hand, AMI a gold.blue sky above
She mused about the missing Willie |
Had he carried out his occasional |
threat to run away?
"The road iSs open, GO when you
Ike" was her fathers one reply to |
such futile outbursts But they well |
knew the road was not open 10 Willie. |
The six mountain miles intervening |
between their ranch and the station
formed an impossible barrier to his
timorOus soul
Il guess he's afraid Of the bigneSs Of |
things" Anna concluded And he's |
cot no call to run away. Papa threat
ems him, but he's never laid hands on
him yet, s'pose it's on account OF the
bath he ran away"
There was no Willie at the bathing
pool. The checked gingham shirt flut-
tered loncsomely whore she had that
morning placed IT,
Some minutes later. Shuhling delic-
iously among the dapplcd leaves OF
hill trail, she Sprang aside in quick
diNmay.
Goodness" What had seemed to he
\ bunch Of dry leaves and grass coiled |
swiftly, with the rattliug whir that |
goes straight to the fear centre of the
human heart. In dash Anna's hands |
were full of rocks The first article |
In every California mountain Child's |
education is TO destroy every rattle
snake that comes in sight Anna |
lodged the first strike of the snake.
and before he could get nearer she be-
gan Il fuSillade of such efficiency that |
the reptile enemy sought retreat.
Then Anna was privileged to witness |
a strange thing-a very strange thing; |
80 unusual. in fact that when reported |
to the head Of the geological depart
mcnt of the State University that con
servativc gentleman would have given
the story little credence had it not been
for the unimpcachable authority of a
celebrated naturalist, who had reported |
it aS occasionally occurring among the |
large, ch-to-be-dreaded species of
the Eastern States-the Crotslus horri- |
dus. or banded rattler
To Annals unutterahlc surprise. the |
snake turned for refuge to a nearby |
oak tree Perhaps he came against il |
rs the rattlesnake sees
badly 10y daylight At any rate, he |
reared his head against IL much rs he |
would have done in ascending the side |
OF a sunny boulder In the early days |
of his chilled awakening from his win.
ter sleep.
he writhed spirally but slowly MP |
its rough trunk. which seemed from |
eighteen to twenty inches in circum.
ference. When the rocks ceased dying |
he would halt. evidently not halfliking |
his task. 20 wave his bluntly triangular |
head In the direction where the moving |
shadow indicated 10 his blurred vision |
the position Of his enemy BUT on the !
resumption OF active hoStiltieS he
would begin again his painful ascent
"Ow.w.w-ch!' sounded a howl from
above.
Looking up az the cry. Anna dis.
cnrued among tho clustering leaves OF
the black oak huddled figure. with
raccoon-iike eyes peering down az the
mounting snake 10 escape from which
he had, In fact. climpcd the tree.
Willie" she shouted Jump. The
snakes coming! Jump
"Ow-w.w-chr he continued 90 wall.
The snake stopped. confused. Craning