that every rattlesnake carries at the tip of his tail, had seen and heard the danger simultaneously and only just in time. He leaped a clear four feet to the right and stood there panting, gazing wild-eyed and suddenly weak upon the doom which he had so narrowly escaped. At first he did not realize that his dog was stricken and he kept his terrified eyes fixed upon the snake until the short, sharp barks changed to shrill, long-drawn cries of pain. He watched the poor beast's death struggles in silence and without moving. Then he turned and fled like a deer.
For many minutes after the delicate nerve mechanism of his under-scales had ceased to detect the slightest tremor of the ground the rattlesnake stood on guard, his whirring rattle sounding its fearless challenge. At length, however, he seemed to realize that the enemy had retreated; and, uncoiling slowly, his beautiful body, straightened now to its full length, began again to glide mysteriously over the ground. In the waste of broom grass beyond the shallow, weed-choked ditch the busy meadow-mice still ran hither and thither along their smooth, well-trodden paths; and, now that his sluggish spirit had been stirred to fury and his body put to violent though brief, exertion, the snake was more than ever keenly conscious of his hunger and more impatient for his dinner.
