54 In Touch with Nature. 



be a fool outright as cursed with a tardy wit. 

 Had every snake been venomous, I should have 

 been safe only by standing immovably, but per- 

 sonal safety crowded all saner thought, and I 

 clutched and scrambled vainly against the wall- 

 like rocks. Of course in vain, and then the snakes 

 were upon me. It was a strange sight. Ankle- 

 deep in garter-snakes ! Let the timid folk think 

 of it. Only to a slight extent did I stay their 

 progress, and before all had passed I sat down and 

 gathered as many as I could hold. They were 

 very cold, sluggish, and many, I think, were 

 blind. The languid darting of their forked tongues 

 was very funny ; as if they felt compelled to keep 

 up the custom, but were terribly bored by it. 

 How often have I known human tongues to wag 

 in just that way ! 



For an hour I toyed with a score of pretty 

 snakes, but they could neither be teased nor 

 warmed to activity. I despaired of learning any- 

 thing from them, until the thought came to me as 

 to their destination, and why they should seek the 

 icy waters of the lake. Tangles of snakes, in the 

 meadows at home, are not common, although, like 



