CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
175 
that leaves no physical evidence upon the body but accom¬ 
plishes with certainty a design more devastating than mere 
physical torment. 
In order to make it certain that the victim should find no 
escape by closing his eyes to shut out the maddening images, 
forever dancing and girating in the blinding glare of powerful 
lights, his hands were tied behind his back and his eyelids were 
held open by means of broad steel rings—a revival of an 
ancient form of torture. 
The whole picture drawn above is by no means pleasant to 
contemplate, but has been resorted to that man at his worst 
might be contrasted with the serpent, living the life which 
nature and nature’s God intended him to live. It might be ob¬ 
served that such comparison leaves Mr. Rattler at no great 
disadvantage—he employs the devices with which nature en¬ 
dowed him for purposes of obtaining a sufficient supply of 
food, and when his needs have been supplied, his hunger ap¬ 
peased, he desists from further application of such fiendish 
powers. At the worst, whatever punishment he inflicts upon 
his prey is of very short duration. Man, the real offender 
against the laws of common decency and humanity, appears to 
have mastered some of the rattler’s arts and utilized such 
knowledge with which to inflict insufferable pain upon his 
fellowman. 
The craftiness of the diamond-back literally fascinates one 
who devotes much study to them in the wild state. Such person 
does not find it necessary to pursue his studies and observa¬ 
tions for long until he finds it all but impossible to doubt new 
reports of his cunning and Satanic powers. If one be a true 
investigator he merely records such reports in his mind against 
the day when he may acquire first-hand proof of their accuracy. 
Surely it was not by chance that he came to be associated with 
the forces of the Evil One, even from the early dawn of 
creation. 
The trail of the serpent leads from the legends of Eden 
through the mazes of primitive worship and the cults of the 
jungle down to the present day. Even shunned and loathed by 
man, there can be nothing between him and the tempter of the 
Garden but perpetual enmity. 
