WAS IT A SEQUEL ? 55 



for himself. On one side of the oak the branches 

 hung low to the ground, and he pushed into the 

 tangle till the green boughs rested on his back 

 and he was almost hidden from view. Meanwhile 

 I sat close beside the chaparral wall, where all 

 sorts of sounds were to be heard, suggestive of 

 the industries of the population hidden within the 

 brush at my back. Hearing small footsteps, I 

 peered in through the browii twigs, and to my 

 delight saw a pair of stately quail walking over 

 the ground, promenading through the brush ave- 

 nues. Afterwards I caught sight of a gray ani- 

 mal, probably a wood rat, running down a branch 

 behind me, and heard queer muffled sounds of 

 gnawing. 



Suddenly, looking back, I was startled to see a 

 big ringed brown and yellow snake lying like a 

 rope at the foot of the gnat's tree, just where I 

 had sat. He was about four feet long, and had 

 twenty-three rings. He started to wind into the 

 crotch of the oak as if meaning to climb the tree, 

 but instead, crept to a stump and festooned him- 

 self about it worming around the holes as he 

 might do if looking for nest holes. Imagine how 

 a mother bird would feel to have him come stealing 

 upon her little brood in that horrid way ! When 

 he crawled over the dead leaves I noted with a 

 shiver that he made no sound. Thinking of the 

 gnats, I watched his every movement till he had 

 left the premises and wormed his way off through 



