186 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



poison. The boys catch them with a noose of 

 grass. Some of those oats would do." 



And springing across the pool, the boy picked 

 a shoot of oats, stripped off the heads, and pro- 

 ceeded to make a dainty little slip-noose of the 

 thin end. 



" You hold that in the water and let the water- 

 snake go through it, and then you just draw it 

 up and catch him," said he, suiting the action to 

 the word ; " only you must draw it up just back 

 of the head or else they 11 bite you. We catch 

 lizards that way." 



" Water-lizards ? " I asked. 



" No ; just any kind of lizards," said he. 



" What do you do with the water-snakes ? " I 

 asked. 



" My father sold three for me the other day," 

 said the boy, and then he mentioned the name of 

 a San Francisco druggist as the purchaser. 



" What does he do with them? " I asked. 



" He 's a snake-charmer," said the boy. 



And, seeing that he would answer any question 

 that I had a mind to ask him, I queried, inquisi- 

 tively, " How much did he pay you for the water- 

 snakes ? " 



" Half a dollar apiece," said the boy. 



As I sat beside the pool I twice saw a leech 

 swimming through the water, its body undulating 

 as it moved. 



The boy caught sight of it and said, " That 's 

 just the way the water-snakes swim." 



