WHY SATANK KILLED PEACOCK 



whir of a rattlesnake in the direction of the man, 

 an' as I looked to'rds him I was horrified to see a 

 big rattler that seemed to have hold of one of his 

 ankles an' was a-jerkin' an' squirmin' an' wrap- 

 pin' itself all 'round his leg; but, as I found out 

 afterward, the snake had struck at his ankle an' 

 caught a mouthful of the roll of Nesbit's trousers 

 an' got his fangs tangled so's he couldn't git loose 

 but hadn't touched the leg at all. 



"Well, sir, I was nearly paralyzed with fear 

 an' was tryin' to think of some way I could help 

 the man but didn't see how. He never said a 

 word, but just reached down as cool as ef he was 

 goin' to pluck a flower, grabbed the snake right 

 back of its head so close it couldn't turn to bite 

 his hand when it got its fangs loose, then pulled 

 its fangs loose from the roll of his trousers an' 

 pulled the snake away from where it was wrapped 

 around his leg. It coiled itself around his arm 

 an' kep' its rattle a-hummin', and I couldn't 

 imagine how he was goin' to get rid of it without 

 gettin' bit. 



"Well, it all happened quicker'n scat, an' while 

 I was a-tryin' to study out some way I could help 

 him out he knew just what to do an' was a-doing 

 it without asking anybody's help. 



"He just reached for his belt with the other 

 hand, pulled his butcher-knife, sliced the snake's 

 head off clean — taking a slice out of his finger in 

 doing it, shook the snake loose from his arm an' 



97 



