CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
203 
some time, but the thought had never occurred to her to at¬ 
tribute any particular significance to the act. She finally began 
to wonder about the fact that each time she gave him his cup 
of milk he would drink a portion of it and then go out into 
the yard and vanish from sight. She spoke of this to the child’s 
father, with the result that he planned to secretly observe the 
little boy’s actions and thereby learn the cause of his peculiar 
behavior. 
He did not have to wait long to obtain the information he 
sought. The next time the child was given his cup of milk he 
went directly underneath the house and crawled up close to the 
base of the chimney. The father then approached to within 
a few feet without his notice so that he might obtain a close-up 
view of what was going on. What he saw filled him with 
amazement and horror. At the approach of the child a large 
diamond-back rattlesnake crawled from underneath the chim¬ 
ney, from a hole that the dog had scratched for the purpose of 
providing himself with a cool place during the summer months 
and a warm retreat for the cold winter nights, when there was 
fire in the hearth. 
The big reptile crawled boldly up to the child who held the 
cup outstretched toward him and began drinking the milk 
while the little boy patted him on the neck and back. Though 
terribly alarmed for the safety of his child, the father knew 
well that any interference on his part might be fraught with 
serious consequences to his little son, so he stood back out of 
sight until the serpent had emptied the cup of milk and the 
child had finished fondling the rattler, then the father killed 
it with a well-aimed shot from his gun. 
As a rule a rattlesnake does not make its home in such close 
proximity to the abode of man, but the house was vacant dur¬ 
ing his period of hibernation, and the excavation the dog had 
made beneath the chimney proved to be exactly what he needed 
to provide him a dry and comfortable retreat during the dis¬ 
agreeable winter months. 
This incident is a striking illustration of the fact that, ex¬ 
cept under very unusual circumstances, anyone who has no fear 
of reptiles will ever be harmed. (See Chapter, “Reaction of 
Lower Animals to Human Emotions.”) 
