12O The King of the Thundering Herd 



stood over him, watchful lest the snake be 

 playing him some trick. In this attitude 

 Bennie found them, the dog growling and 

 watching the snake, and the calf stamping 

 and snorting and looking as though he did 

 not know what to make of it. 



When Shep had been petted and told 

 again and again that he was the best dog in 

 the world, Bennie carried the snake up to 

 the cabin, and Shep drove Little Bighead 

 back home at a lively pace, snapping at his 

 heels and barking at every jump. This was 

 clearly the dog's way of punishing the fool- 

 ish calf for his folly in disturbing the 

 snake. 



The reptile proved to be four feet in 

 length and possessed of about a dozen rat- 

 tles. My readers will at once conclude that 

 the snake was a dozen years old, but that is 

 an error. It is a mistake to count a year 

 for each rattle. Mr. Horniday has at the 

 Bronx rattlesnakes three years old which 



