220 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
reader is as much at liberty to supply the missing details 
through the medium of his imagination as the writer. The 
mute evidence points unerringly to the fact that there must 
have been a silent but terrible struggle. 
For our own part we see this great catfish lounging leisurely 
about his lair floored by the ooze of the Ocmulgee channel 
when a noticeable ripple upon the surface influenced him to 
direct his attention thither. Nothing strange about ripples upon 
the surface of this turbulent river, but it is not every creature 
that can read the signs he reads. 
When its tide rolls against the steep bluffs at such bends, 
swerving sharply toward the farther shore, there are unde¬ 
termined numbers of ripples. The bloody waters boil as though 
Dante’s inferno lay at the bottom of it all, while miniature 
maelstroms form everywhere as a result of such force brought 
to bear upon it. 
As for the diamond-back, his luck as a hunter had been 
rotten for several days in succession, so much so that “miss-a- 
meal-cramps” beset him in his digestive organs. Very naturally 
concluding that hunting would be better on the farther shore, 
he lost no time in attempting a fording of the stream. Like 
every tyrant and conqueror, he committed just one error that 
led to his undoing—he attempted a crossing at a point where 
he was destined to engage in battle with a mighty adversary— 
an enemy thoroughly familiar with every inch of the ground 
on which the battle was destined to be won or lost. 
As he looked up at the agitated waters, forming a long “V,” 
he observed what appeared to be a great eel-worm at the 
point of the “V.” He must have exclaimed, “Leaping catfishes, 
what a worm! Now, there goes a meal fit to grace the table 
of a true noble of the catfish clan!” So observing, he rapidly 
ascended in order to view his quarry at closer range. Having 
satisfied himself that this fellow would provide meat for his 
table for several days to come, he laid hold of him with a firm 
grip in the midsection, dragging him instantly beneath the 
waves where the rattler was compelled to fight blindly. Strik¬ 
ing savagely from right to left, he finally seized his invisible 
assailant in the muscle of his tough jaw. As he did so a flame 
