“Sort of. Not just sure where it is, though. I’ll—â€�
He stopped. To his ears came a peculiar buzzing, like the sound of some giant locust.
The horses heard it at the same instant, and they swerved about and would have bolted but for the firm hands of their riders. Teddy peered sharply down at a large gray boulder that lay half imbedded in the soil, a deep, wide gash running from one end of it to the other.
Again came the buzzing noise, and now a strange, pungent odor floated out, which told, plainer than words, what that sound meant.
“Rattlers!� Teddy cried. “Sidewinders! A whole den of ’em!�
“Kill ’em!� Roy yelled, drawing his rifle from its case on the saddle. “Kill ’em! Pour lead into the varmints! Salivate ’em!�
He leveled his rifle, and, as he did so, a veritable horde of writhing, slimy, scaly creatures issued forth from the rocky crevice, like a phalanx of some horrible, crawling army!
CHAPTER VIII
THE FALL
The woods echoed with the crack of the rifles as Roy and Teddy opened fire on the rattlesnakes. The horses were prancing about in a frenzy of fear, and it was almost impossible to take accurate aim, but there were so many of the hissing creatures that this was not necessary. The ground near the rock seemed literally covered with the snakes, and a shot placed anywhere among them was nearly sure to hit one.
“Blow their heads off!� Teddy was yelling. “Pulverize ’em!�