158 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
It might as well be admitted that the first round belonged 
strictly to the rattler. The horseman had hoped to administer 
a paralyzing blow at the first, and then administer the coup-de¬ 
grace at leisure, but his plans went wrong. Instead of inflict¬ 
ing a very damaging blow the stroke.had merely served to 
transform him into a demon filled with fury and venom. The 
rattler was too confident of his own prowess to lie down and 
be killed merely to oblige his ancient enemy, man. When he 
advanced upon him the second time he found him alert and 
fully awake to the danger threatening him. The horseman 
was wholly unprepared for what happened this time. No one 
had ever warned him of such danger. All he had ever read 
from the pens of snake experts gave assurance that a rattler 
would not charge a human being. Such blunder was excusable 
inasmuch as such assurances had been universally accepted as 
being true. The rattler lunged forward, changed ends, and 
then struck double length over his tail, thus advancing four 
full lengths in as little time as would be required to count the 
strokes. Our informant had no time for anything save deliv¬ 
ering himself, if possible, from the dreadful blow he felt for 
in his back as he wheeled in his tracks and speedily retreated 
to a place of safety. With this experience he concluded defi¬ 
nitely that this was not a one-man job. Untying his horse, 
which had been hitched a safe distance from the scene of the 
battle, he rode away for home. Taking a backward look over 
his shoulder he witnessed, with considerable humiliation, the 
head of his victorious adversary reared high, just to make sure 
that this meddlesome horseman did not change his mind and 
return to the encounter. 
It has already been stated that a wholly erroneous opinion 
is universally current to the effect that a rattler is either in¬ 
disposed to do so or is wholly incapable of staging a furious 
assault. Those disposed to cling to such beliefs would do well 
to keep the experience of this horseman in mind. Diamond- 
backs of the type described do not obligate themselves to em¬ 
ploy merely the tactics of the younger and less experienced 
generation. They become ill-tempered and by far wiser with 
each passing year. We have read times without number that 
