ASPETUCK 85 



dead, even if it was a rattler. Come and look 

 at him." 



Tommy-Anne, thus persuaded, drew nearer. 

 The first thing that she noticed was that the 

 snake's nose was blunt and horny ; then she saw 

 that the head was flat and thick, while its wide, 

 mottled brown body ended in a stumpy tail. 



" What sort of a snake is it ? " she asked. 



" A Hog-nose. Round here we mostly call them 

 blowing adders, 'cause when they are mad they 

 blow up their necks and hiss. They are lazy 

 things, they can't go very fast, and often play 

 dead to make people go away and let them alone, 

 rather than take the trouble to move." 



44 Obi, are you perfectly sure it is a Hog-nose?" 

 asked Tommy-Anne, anxiously. She had pried 

 open its mouth with a stick, and found that it 

 had some large teeth that looked like fangs. 



" You see that it has no pit-mark below its eyes, 

 as our poison snakes have. I'm going to keep 

 this snake and make a skelly of it, so that you 

 can see how its bones work, and its fangs and 

 all that." 



" Then you had better hang it up in a tree, or 

 the Sexton Beetles may come and bury it for you." 



"That is so," said Obi; " I guess I'll take it 

 with me, for some Owl might come by and grab 



