262 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
the cause of it he saw a squirrel apparently dead lying upon 
the ground. He was in the pink of condition and he marveled 
that a squirrel so sleek and fat should have died so suddenly 
and came toppling down out of the top of a black-gum, but 
carried on with his fishing, looking to the future for a solution 
of the mystery. Presently a swamp snake came slithering down 
from the top of the tree to the lower limbs, which almost 
touched the ground. Leaping from the lower limbs he hurried 
along to claim his quarry. There had been no struggle up in 
the treetop, and the reptile was not the venomous species, so 
what was the answer? 
An aged friend, known to me to be absolutely truthful, re¬ 
lated in detail an exciting encounter he once had with a dia¬ 
mond-back which illustrates unmistakably that this reptile pos¬ 
sesses unblievable fleetness when speed appears to him to be 
the safest deliverance from an unhealthy situation. At the 
time, he was riding his saddle horse. Dismounting, he opened 
the gate to a large field which had been grazed clean by his 
cattle, and as he did so he came upon a large diamond-back on 
the inside of the field. A dense swamp at the lower side of the 
field, some two or three hundred yards away, appeared to him 
to be the safest refuge, so he headed for it at a dizzy pace. 
My informant mounted his steed quickly and followed in hot 
pursuit of him. He was never able to overcome the rattler’s 
lead, but suffered the humiliation of seeing him glide like some¬ 
thing greased into the tangled undergrowth in which he felt 
he could best offer battle to his opponent. 
Another friend, noted far and wide for his speed on foot, 
had gone into the center of a large field to a plum tree laden 
with ripe fruit. His enjoyment of the luscious plums was sud¬ 
denly interrupted as he looked backward to see a large coach- 
whip snake with head reared menacing him. All creatures 
appear to have been endowed by Nature with at least ONE 
gift which enables them to repel their enemies, and with a 
superior gift which will enable them to procure a sufficient 
supply of food. The one outstanding gift of this snake is his 
menacing appearance. Everyone knows him to be absolutely 
harmless—i.e., their reason tells them as much, but the trouble 
is their feet simply refuse to believe it. This young man ran, 
