My Snake-Stick 



r 



the Connecticut River is likely to harbor rattle- 

 snakes, or copperheads, or both. The rugged 

 hills along the Hudson abound in them; and 

 they occasionally come into our paths and little 

 clearings in the woods on the rough hillside and 

 would lie basking in the sun; that is, we or 

 others frequently saw them, and usually were 

 able to kill them, for they seemed indifferent 

 about moving, though they can run swiftly 

 when they please. Their hunting and wander- 

 ing about is done mainly at night, as with most 

 terrestrial animals. 



One day a party of young ladies from Vas- 

 sar College came across the river for a day's 

 ramble in the woods, and encountered a hand- 

 some snake, about eighteen inches long, lying 

 stretched right at our steps (no one was at home 

 that day) as if it owned the place. They gath- 

 ered about it and one of the girls stooped down 

 and began to stroke it, first with a little stick 

 and then with her bare hand. But when my 

 neighbor came along, and, keeping his wits 

 about him, had discreetly got the fair enthu- 

 siast out of harm's way, he set off a " Vassar 



*$ 89 



