CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
17 
had been yielding no satisfying results. Concluding finally 
that his impetuosity was driving this elusive creature to cover 
in advance of his arrival upon the scene, he decided in favor 
of a change of tactics. He would stalk this will-o’-the-wisp like 
a panther when he again took notice of the same note. When 
his opportunity came again, he lay prone upon the earth and 
literally elbowed his way to it, observing closely, in the hope 
that he might finally learn the identity of this strange creature. 
His patience was rewarded when he finally came within sight 
of a black racer with his head protruding from a hole in the 
decaying wood at the base of a large pine stump. There was 
no doubt left in his mind but that this call was coming from 
the black snake. He was as much elated over his simple dis¬ 
covery as any modern inventor could possibly be, should he 
stumble upon a secret which would revolutionize the world’s 
industry. 
He pondered this incident of childhood in his mind as he 
sought to learn the secret of the rattler’s mysterious means of 
communication with his mate. He had never heard from any¬ 
one that the rattler was capable of uttering a mating call, and 
he had never read anything coming from the most learned men 
intimating that such was even a possibility. But to him there 
was some likelihood that he was drawing near to another 
secret which might very easily prove the means of unmasking 
this old wizard of the wiregrass regions. 
Once, while sitting upon the porch of his little log cabin, 
at the setting of the sun, he heard a note of which he had never 
before taken notice. It came from a dense oak thicket con¬ 
taining a liberal scattering of palmettoes. It was more of a 
whine than anything he could describe—very much the same 
as a dog makes when he yawns. The note was soft on the ears, 
lower pitched than the dog’s whine, gradually ascending the 
scale as it drew to a conclusion, ending each time with a dis¬ 
tinct “T-u,” somewhat the.same as a human would make eject¬ 
ing a crumb from the point of the tongue by a sudden exhala¬ 
tion of the breath. It might be described as a sort of wailing 
call. This continued for almost a week. It was noted that this 
call would always be answered from a rough fence row, bor- 
