"It may be so," Lil Artha went on to say, "but I've known one to get birds to flutter within reach, just as if there was something magical in the whirr of that buzz rattle at the end of its tail. After all, I guess it was lucky that I did conclude to fetch my gun along this afternoon. The boys were laughing at me in the morning for lugging it when I didn't mean to fire a shot at any game. But say, a measly rattler hasn't any close season; he's a fit object for business, summer or fall."
"You made a cracking fine shot, Lil Artha," commented Elmer, after stepping closer to observe the result of the other's quick aim.
"Oh! middling, middling, partner," chuckled the tall scout, modestly; "I oughtn't to be proud of it; but then I own up I was some rattled for fear Rufus would move, and make the snake shoot forward with that poised flat head of his. But I stopped his fun all right, which ought to be enough for me."
"But how d'ye suppose I missed the fearsome de-il?" asked Alec, wonderingly.
"Oh! I happened to step aside while getting my bearings for that last sight," explained the trembling Rufus, "and must have drawn too near where the viper was coiled up for defense. First thing I knew was hearing what I took to be the whirr of a locust. Then I looked down and saw it! After that I seemed to turn to ice. I heard Lil Artha coming, and afterwards he said something. When he fired I nearly fell over, thinking I had been shot. Oh! I'll never forget my sensations; and after this I'm going to keep on the lookout all the time for snakes."
"It pays to be on the watch," assented Elmer. "The fellow who keeps his eyes about him in the woods is doubly armed. We must drag it back with us, and show George. He said he didn't believe there was any truth in that farmer's story about rattlesnakes up here. We'll have to show him."
"But, Elmer, supposing it had given me a crack, would I have had to die? Is there any remedy for a rattlesnake's poison?" asked Rufus.
"Oh! we'd have pulled you through all right, depend on it, Rufus," said Lil Artha, taking it upon himself to answer the question. "I'd have sucked the wound in the first place, making sure that I had no scratch or abrasion about my mouth so that I couldn't be infected by the poison that I ejected. Then Elmer here, who is a pretty good surgeon when it comes right down to brass tacks, would have cut into the wound, and afterwards, when it had bled freely, he'd apply some stuff he always carries with him to neutralize the poison. Some people give whiskey, and perhaps it does help; but science and medicine have found a better remedy."
"Then why are there so many fatal cases of snake bites?" asked Rufus, determined to find out all he could on the subject.
"Well, most of them are neglected too long," Elmer told him. "The person who has been struck may be alone at the time; or if he has companions, they become panic-stricken, and only think of hurrying the poor chap to the nearest doctor as fast as they can. That's nearly always the worst thing they could do, for in the time it takes, the deadly poison has had a chance to circulate through the blood, and all the doctors going couldn't save the patient."