372 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and took the frost out of the air and the rocks, then he crawled 

 out to lie until he got warm. The stream was clear and swift in 

 the caiion, the waterfalls sang in the side gulch of Roaring River, 

 the wind rustled in the long needles of the yellow pines, and the 

 birds called to their mates in the branches. But Old Rattler did 

 not care for such things. He was just a snake, you know, and his 

 neighbors did not think him a good snake at that, for he was surly 

 and silent, and his big, three-cornered, " cofFm-shaped " head, set 

 on a slim, flat neck, was very ugly to see. But when he opened 

 his mouth he was uglier still, for in his upper jaw he had two long 

 fangs, and each one was filled with deadly poison. His vicious 

 old head was covered with gray and wrinkled scales, and his black, 

 beadlike eyes snapped when he opened his mouth to find out 

 whether his fangs were both in working order. 



Old Rattler was pretty stiff when he first came from his hole 

 on the morning of this story. He had lain all night coiled up like 

 a rope among the rocks, and his tail felt very cold. But the glad 

 sun warmed the cockles of his heart, and in an hour or two he be- 

 came limber, and this made him happy in his snaky fashion. But, 

 being warm, he began to be hungry, for it had been a whole month 

 since he had eaten anything. When the first new moon of August 

 came, his skin loosened everywhere and slipped down over his 

 eyes like a veil, so that he could see nothing about him, and could 

 not hunt for frogs by the river nor for chipmunks among the trees. 

 But with the new moon of September all this was over. The 

 rusty brown old coat was changed for a new suit of gray and black, 

 and the diamond-shaped checkers all over it were clean and shiny 

 as a set of new clothes ought to be. 



There was a little striped chipmunk running up and down the 

 sugar-pine tree over his head, pursing his little mouth and throw- 

 ing himself into pretty attitudes, as though he were the center of 

 an admiring audience, and Old Rattler kept a steady eye on him. 

 But he was in no hurry about it all. He must first get the kinks 

 out of his neck, and the cold cramps from his tail. There was 

 an old curse on his family, so the other beasts had heard, that 

 kept him always cold, and his tail was the coldest part of all. So 

 he shook it a little, just to show that it was growing limber, and 

 the bone clappers on the end rustled with a sharp, angry noise. 

 Fifteen rattles he had in all — fifteen and a button — and to have 

 80 many showed that he was no common member of his hated 

 family. Then he shook his tail again, and more sharply. This 

 was to show all the world that he, Old Rattler, was wide awake, 

 and whoever stepped on him would better look out. Then all the 

 big beasts and little beasts who heard the noise fled away just as 



