DOG-TOWN DIGGINGS 225 
the outcast dog but I missed most of this in 
watching the snake mob. It, too, was a vehe- 
ment, noisy mob. The wise old dog refused to 
go into a hole but was literally jammed in, 
with earth clawed in after him until the hole 
was filled, then another barbaric, triumphal 
war dance upon the buried one. 
Rattlesnakes eat young dogs and sometimes 
boldly enter the dens for them during the 
mother’s absence. 
But what was the offense of the old dog 
which had been attacked by his fellows? Was 
it crime or misdemeanour? Had he been mis- 
understood, or was it a case of circumstantial 
evidence? In other dog towns I have seen the 
populace putting one of their number to death, 
and in this town, about two years later, I saw 
two dogs entombed by the same wild mob. 
In this case even the sentinels forgot the coyote 
and joined the mob. Were the executed ones 
murderers, robbers, or had they denied some 
ancient and unworthy superstition and like 
reformers paid the penalty of being in advance 
of popular opinion? 
One afternoon Cactus Center had a storm. 
Black clouds suddenly covered the sky and a 
storm swept the prairie. A barrage of large 
hailstones led, striking the prairie violently at 
an angle so sharp that stones bounded and rolled 
