LITTLE PRISONERS IN THE TOWER. 71 



On our way to the tree we came on a gopher 

 snake four feet long. It was so near the color of 

 the soil that I would have passed it by, but the 

 boy discovered it. The creature lay so still he 

 thought it was dead ; but as we stood looking, it 

 puffed itself up with a big breath, darted out its 

 tongue, and began to move off. I watched to see 

 how it made the straight track we so often saw in 

 the dust of the roads. It bent its neck into a 

 scallop for a purchase, while its tapering tail made 

 an S, to furnish slack ; and then it pulled the 

 main length of its body along straight. It crawled 

 noiselessly right to the foot of the woodpecker 

 tree, but was only hunting for a hole to hide 

 in. It got part way down one hole, found that 

 it was too small, and had to come backing out 

 again. It followed the sand bed, taking my regu- 

 lar beat, from tree to tree ! To be sure, gopher 

 snakes are harmless, but they are suggestive, and 

 you would rather their ways were not your ways. 



Although the little prisoners welcomed us as 

 rescuers should be welcomed, they did it by mis- 

 take. They thought we were their parents. At 

 the first blow of the axe their voices hushed, and 

 not a sound came from them again. It seemed as 

 if we never should get the birds out. 



It looked easy enough, but it was n't. The nest 

 was about twelve feet above the ground. The 

 sycamore was so big the boy could not reach 

 around it, and so smooth and slippery he could 



