

CHAPTER XXXII. 



CONCERNING SNAKES. 



"WOULDN'T the public open its 

 eyes if it could see that?" said Jack 

 Harvey that night, as he sat with his 

 friends, talking over their experience 

 with the boa-constrictor. 



" So would any person," replied Mr. 

 Godkin : "there are authentic instances 

 of pythons growing to a length of twenty- 

 eight and thirty feet, but they are rare." 

 " I'm glad we have nothing of the 

 kind in our country," said Bob Marshall, 

 "though I've heard of some pretty big ones in Jack's State." 



"Yes, we have a few healthy rattlers down in Arizona and Texas and around 

 there, but they are always manly enough to give warning before they strike." 



"I've seen a black-snake kill the crotalus horridus" said Dick, "if you will allow 

 a technical term.' 



"How was that?" asked Mr. Godkin; "I have met both kinds, but never 

 witnessed that." 



"The black-snake, you know, is a constrictor, and therefore not poisonous, but 

 he is a good deal more lively than the rattlesnake. When they go for each other, 

 the black one easily dodges the blows of the other and soon squeezes him to 

 death." 



"How large a rattlesnake have you seen?" 



"None with more than a dozen rattles, which is a pretty good size, but I know 

 a Mr. Hall, who, when riding through Illinois, many years ago, on horseback, 

 saw a great snake crawling across the road ahead of him. There was no fence 

 on either side, but the serpent crept in among some tall dry grass, where his eye 

 could easily follow him. Mr. Hall dismounted, leaving his horse alone, for there 

 was nothing to tie him to, picked up a hoop-pole from a pile at the side of the road, 

 and started after the fellow. He saw that he was a monster and he meant to kill 

 him. 



"Running up as close as he dared, he hit him a smart rap, for a slight blow will 

 kill a rattler. It instantly coiled to strike, but he jumped back out of the way. 

 The snake started on and the gentleman ran forward and struck it again. He said 

 the hoop-pole was so slender that it bent as he. brought it down, and the blow was 

 too weak, therefore, to be effective. 



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