270 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
All that has been recorded herein of a complimentary nature 
about the diamond-back is strictly true, yet he is a killer of the 
first order whose varying moods it is impossible to predict, and 
should therefore be destroyed. 
Uncle Dave does not have it on his conscience that he started 
this war, and just why the diamond-backs should have precipi¬ 
tated hostilities is not quite clear to the writer. Had they 
known this old gentleman as I have come to know him they 
would surely have held their fire, since no person in America 
was better qualified to promote their utter undoing. 
Relatives and friends have pleaded with him to make an end 
of it—to call the whole thing off—lest Dame Fortune some 
day turn her back upon him at a critical moment. Their en¬ 
treaties serve no useful purpose—merely “Nettles” him. He 
has absolute faith in a sort of psychic feeling by which he has 
always been governed, and believes confidently that no rattler 
will ever have a hand in writing the concluding chapter of his 
life. 
THE END. 
