The Wit of the Wild 



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larly they move the slender hinder end of the 

 body with an appearance of life; and so the 

 country boys will tell you that no snake will 

 die until sundown. 



I was returning home along the same wood- 

 land road the next day, when my eye caught a 

 peculiar quiver and became aware of a narrow, 

 tapering object as large as a lead pencil, and of 

 the richest burnt sienna red color, right beside 

 my foot. I wasn't jumping to make a record 

 so it is not worth while to state precisely how 

 much ground was cleared in the bound that fol- 

 lowed, but it was considerable. Then I looked 

 back. There lay the tail slowly vibrating from 

 side to side like that of an angry cat; and be- 

 yond it could be distinguished a sinuous body, 

 dull reddish-yellow, very thick in the middle, 

 and tapering toward each end, with angular 

 dusky blotches forming a zigzag pattern along 

 its sides. Unquestionably this was a " pilot," 

 as people here in the Hudson Valley call the 

 copperhead. 



It is said to be the peculiar distinction of 

 this snake that it will turn and bite you as you 

 ^ 86 ^ 



