SNAKES AND BOTANIZING. 65 



"I should think. Well, go ahead with your 

 snake stories." 



"Once, when I was about twelve years old, 

 I went blackberrying with a party of young 

 people. I was running on ahead through th© 

 long grass on the side of a hill. Suddenly I was 

 brought to bay by a snake that seemed to stand 

 on end and hiss z-z-z-z in my very face. I yelled 

 with all my might, and the snake disappeared 

 in the grass. I am not sure which was fright- 

 ened the more, the snake or I. " 



"That was sensational enough for any one. 

 Go on." 



"Once a friend and I walked along a hill 

 above a low, swampy land. It was mid-summer 

 and the day was hot. As we mounted to the 

 highest point she told me to stop and look be- 

 low. The tall rushes and grass waved, though 

 no wind blew, and soon forth issued a big black 

 snake, I am afraid to say how long or thick. 

 I should have been more terrified than I was, 

 but the snake was headed away from us, and it 

 went on down the valley and disappeared into 

 a thick underbrush." 



"And is that all? I 'm not tired listening." 



"No? Well, once when I had just passed 



my 'teens and was beginning to feel impressed 



with the flood of years, I was roaming through a 



forest, without a thought of danger. I saw a 



B 



