278 Life in the Open 



was coming down one day I saw a big rattler in the 

 road, and pulled up the team just in time to save it. 

 The next trip, there was the same snake in the same 

 place, and as we went by it crawled after the stage ; so 

 I got out and put it in a box and took it down to 

 Avalon. That snake was the gratefulest creature you 

 ever heard of ; tried to follow me all over. You see, 

 I "d saved its life. When I went to Los Angeles one 

 day I took it along and left it in my hotel when I went 

 out. When I went back I heard a noise, and looking 

 up to the window I saw that rattler's tail hanging out 

 and rattling so you could hear it a block. I went up 

 as quick as I could, thinking the window had fallen on 

 it, and what do you s'pose I saw?" 



" I can't imagine," said the young lady from the 

 East, with a look of horror on her face. 



" When I pushed in the door," continued the driver, 

 " there was a burglar lying on the floor. The rattler 

 had the thief by the coat, and its tail was out of the 

 window, rattlin' for the police. And yet," the driver 

 added, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the 

 young lady and tossing the long lash at the leaders, 

 " some folks say animals don't think, and snakes is 

 cold-blooded.' 



Every foot of the rise gives the rider a new vista of 

 mountains and ocean. We are now half-way up, making 

 a sharp horse-shoe curve. The deep cafton drops com- 

 pletely away oil the right ; we can toss a stone that will 

 roll a thousand feet. The trees at the bottom look like 



