92 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
It was not, however, during darkness that all such incursions 
were staged. The diamond-back would take his turn, but 
seemed to delight in daylight holdups. 
The old gentleman now owning the property, while ap¬ 
proaching four-score years, continues in the enjoyment of sur¬ 
prisingly good health for one of his age, which might well be 
expected when consideration is given the hardy stock from 
which he descended. His battle with his ever-present adver¬ 
sary, however, raged on. On one occasion he was plowing 
corn in a field near the river swamp. Following close upon his 
heels were two of his little grandchildren. In the corner of the 
rail fence he chanced to come upon a bed of young rabbits. 
Being thus provided with something to engage their attention 
these two little boys withdrew to the center of the field, just 
in case these young rabbits developed ideas about racing back 
to the rough fence row where they were taken prisoner. The 
little fellows were crying for their freedom, but the youngsters 
heeded not their lamentations. Nonetheless, their call was 
heard by another who came to investigate, but not necessarily 
to liberate. Their game was rudely interrupted when one of 
the two discovered a large diamond-back just in the rear of the 
other. The little fellow, being apprised of the danger, did not 
take time to look back, but seized his bunny rabbits by the ears 
and leaped to safety. He had been sitting upon the ground 
with his little pets between his legs, and the rattler had 
advanced to within a foot or two of him, coiled upon the spot, 
and with his head reared high out of his coil, was looking for 
the rabbits whose cry he had distinctly heard from the rough 
land. Screaming for help, the old gentleman came quickly, but 
just in time to head him oft from the rough land toward which 
he had hastily retreated. 
Though this old hardy pioneer had lived for seventy-seven 
years along the very edge of this river swamp, he had been 
witness to only two or three incidents which we consider of real 
scientific value. Mention of this is made for the purpose of 
illustrating how very difficult it is to catch squarely up with 
reptiles putting their secret arts into practice. As a matter 
of fact, such occurrences are observed so rarely that members 
