88 NORTH CAROLINA 



Then the girls, barefooted, both of them, 

 turned into a bushy trail so narrow tKat it 

 had escaped my notice, and disappeared in 

 the woods. I thought of the villainous-look- 

 ing rattlesnake that I had seen the day be- 

 fore, freshly killed and tossed upon the side 

 of the road, within a hundred rods of this 

 point, and of the surprise expressed by a 

 resident of the town at my wandering about 

 the country without leggins. 



As to the question of snakes and the dan- 

 ger from them, the people here, as is true 

 everywhere in a rattlesnake country, held 

 widely different opinions. Everybody recog- 

 nized the presence of the pest, and most per- 

 sons, whatever their own practice might be, 

 advised a measure of caution on the part of 

 strangers. One thing was agreed to on all 

 hands : whoever saw a " rattler " was in duty 

 bound to make an end of it ; and one man 

 told me a little story by way of illustrating 

 the spirit of the community upon this point. 

 A woman (not a mountain woman) was rid- 

 ing into town, when her horse suddenly 

 stopped and sliied. In the road, directly 

 before her, a snake was coiled, rattling de- 

 fiance. The woman dismounted, hitched the 



