16 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
As a mere boy, his interest was thoroughly aroused as he 
listened to older people comment on one peculiarity of the 
rattler, the same centering around his habit of coming almost 
immediately to the spot where his or her mate had been killed. 
This was a matter of general knowledge, but where the great 
mystery lay was—how did the survivor know of the tragedy? 
It is a well-established fact that during the summer months 
they never travel together, neither do they habitually follow 
each other’s trails. When they emerge from their winter quar¬ 
ters and choose their hunting grounds for the summer months, 
one will take to one side of a large field, and the other the 
opposite side, probably a distance of a thousand yards apart. 
Yet when one of the pair is killed, the other, if living, will 
invariably visit the spot where the death occurred within a 
day or two. His sign will be found there, without fail, pro¬ 
vided the earth is sufficiently soft to leave an impression. 
Accepting the above as true, and there is ample evidence of 
its truth to be had free, if one will but ask of those who have 
spent long years convenient to their habitat, and who have had 
opportunities to study their wild habits. Then there is only 
one logical conclusion to be reached, and that is that there 
exists between them some secret means of communication. 
This seemed incredible to Uncle Dave. Try as he might to 
dismiss the thought from his mind, it nevertheless continually 
confronted him, and without solution. 
During the early period of his life, while too young to be 
of any great service on the farm where he was reared, he often 
amused himself by pursuing a rather puzzling note coming, 
seemingly from nowhere. It sounded very much like the cry 
of a tiny turkey which had become separated from the brood, 
but he knew well that it was not, since they had no turkeys on 
the farm, and there were none in the neighorhood. At first 
he would hasten to the spot from whence the sound seemed to 
come, but when he advanced toward the location from which 
the cry seemed to emanate, all was quiet, nothing visible, and 
to add to his disappointment and confusion, no further note 
was uttered. He checked his movements with the utmost pre¬ 
cision for the purpose of learning, if possible, why his tactics 
