CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
119 
fellow that he was lacking in personal courage. Every desire 
of his being was to break the big brute’s bones, and the sound 
of his spine cracking within his coil would have been sweet 
music to his ears, for had they not been uncompromising ene¬ 
mies since creeping things first crept upon the earth? Reason, 
however, guided him, so adopting the philosophy of the sea¬ 
soned soldier, “Discretion is the better part of valor,” he 
avoided battle, the odds being hopelessly against him as they 
were. 
As a preliminary, the large king snake began maneuvering 
for a position of advantage, while the rattler remained coiled, 
singing his rattles gently, all the while keeping his black eyes 
upon his opponent. This, incidentally, was the thing the king 
snake least wanted. He knew by instinct, or possibly had ac¬ 
quired the knowledge in actual combat, that while the rattler 
was to be dreaded, he had a very serious weakness in his armor. 
Mention has been made elsewhere that when the rattler’s eyes 
have been riveted to a single object or person, it is difficult for 
another to share his attention, even to a slight degree. It has 
been made clear already that his power of concentration aids 
him greatly in procuring his food supply and concentration, it 
appears, is the one prime requisite to the effective exercise of 
this mysterious art. In order to get the rattler’s attention fixed 
where he wanted it the king snake withdrew his head to a point 
where it was invisible, then commenced rattling the leaves with 
1, 2, 3—All day long Uncle Dave and the writer had pursued the 
elusive diamond-back, and nary a one found we. With camera in hand 
we caught him as he looked into the depths of a dense bamboo bayou, 
wondering if they might be found on the sand ridge beyond. Concluding 
definitely that their hide-out would surely be found on the other side of 
this briar-tangled morass he hit his stride for the farther side. 
4, 5—One by one he searches with flashlight the holes the gopher has 
made in the soft, dry sand until he discovers unmistakable sign that such 
“dug-out” has a deadly tenant. Then he proceeds slowly, and with ex¬ 
treme caution, to make preparations for uncovering the defender. These 
are all typical of the old gentleman at his task—he little realized that 
a photo was being taken, so engrossed was he at his labors. 
6, 7, 8—His faithful dog is by no means an amateur, but renders val¬ 
uable service on occasions. In two of the photographs the dog appears 
interested in what is going on, but in the third one in which he appears 
he knows positively that the reptile has abandoned the hole and is wait¬ 
ing rather sullenly and with visible signs of disgust for his master to 
make the same discovery. 
