CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
145 
slowly but surely losing his war. But, observing his firm reso¬ 
lution to yield no ground, he continued in the fray, undis¬ 
mayed. He observed that the ranks of his adversary were 
always replenished—they seemed to spring up like soldiers 
from dragons’ teeth, while the gaps in the ranks of his little 
army are difficult to fill with new recruits. Rattlers, in particu¬ 
lar and all snakes in general, appear to be free from disease. 
They do not believe in race suicide. With families of fifteen 
or more to each wedded couple, they held forth the prospect 
to Uncle Dave of a war which would engage his interest for 
many years to come. His best efforts—and he often assumed 
the role of recruiting officer as well as generalissimo of his 
little suicide army in the field—finally swelled his army to a 
round dozen. Strange as it might sound, he did not want many 
recruits at any one time. He rather preferred to take them on 
one at a time in order that he might thoroughly school them 
in the hazards of the battle before turning them loose on their 
own. While undergoing training for the work before them he 
felt that their very lives were in his hands and such responsi¬ 
bility rested heavily upon him. His seventy-fifth year proved 
to be his best. Those he trained gave him their catch as a mark 
of appreciation of his noble contribution to society, and when 
the season was over and a careful count made they had ac¬ 
counted for fifty-one. A practical test was at the same time 
being carried out in the process, viz: to determine whether or 
not a vast area heavily infested with them might be cleared up 
and made available to hunters, fishermen, picnic parties, and 
in fact all who might (except for the presence of these dread 
creatures) derive a vast amount of enjoyment from their free¬ 
dom in the outdoors. Such experiment was wholly satisfactory 
to himself. If a dozen men could exterminate these dread 
reptiles in an entire county, then all he needed was to enlarge 
his army, thereby driving them to near extinction throughout 
the entire Southern states. 
It was under such circumstances and with such thought in 
mind that the idea of producing this little volume was con¬ 
ceived. By reducing to writing all he had ever learned con¬ 
cerning the ways of the serpent then others could acquire a 
