148 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
feet. Looking down, he found himself standing astride him, 
which necessitated some quick thinking. He was sure of his 
ability to take care of himself, but how about the small child, 
both of whom were within easy striking distance? Observing 
the mounting temper of the diamond-back he felt confident that 
he would strike like a bolt at the first sudden move, or menac¬ 
ing gesture. Just the same, something had to be done; he could 
not endure this intolerable predicament for always. The young 
chap had not seen the reptile and had not been apprised of 
the fact that they were standing beside him. With eyes fixed 
firmly upon the rattler the old gentleman placed his long, 
brawny arm across the breast of the little fellow, and with a 
sudden thrust threw him a somersault or two backward and 
well beyond the striking distance of the rattler. As for him¬ 
self, he stood motionless, awaiting eventualities. Under all the 
rules the rattler should have struck, but he didn’t. So, with 
perfect calm he got into reverse gear, easing gradually off 
him, observing with care as he did so his display of temper. 
The manner of the child’s delivery was almost as much to be 
dreaded as the menace to which he was exposed. Being a Net¬ 
tles, however, he arose, dusted himself off, and without so 
much as uttering a whimper, evidently feeling that “Pop” knew 
his business and if such rough treatment was the price of his 
delivery from harm, then he was for it. Soon the “all clear” 
signal was given, and the party proceeded each his separate 
way, treating the entire affair as a mere incident growing out 
of their day of pleasure. 
On Thursday, early during the month of July, Uncle Dave 
arose on the bright, sharpened his hack, filled his water jug 
and dinner pail and set out for the woods to finish his chipping 
for the week. Now, the day of the week would not be impor¬ 
tant were it not for the fact that laborers in the turpentine in¬ 
dustry finish chipping their crop of boxes on this day. For 
some reason not clear to those not engaged in this particular 
line of endeavor they prefer to labor diligently from early 
dawn on Monday until dusk on Thursday, if necessary, to the 
end that six days of labor may be crowded into four hard days 
of work, thus allowing them three full days of rest at the end 
