The snake's head was out of sight as he straightened up but rose into view as he took a step forward. The distance was about ten feet and he hurled the stone with all his strength but, to his disappointment, he missed. But he was more fortunate the second time, the rock striking the snake's head fair and square. The head went down out of sight behind the rock and he could hear it thrashing about. He waited a few minutes then, picking up another larger rock, stepped cautiously forward. He had no way of knowing how badly he had injured his snakeship and, as the noise of the writhing had stopped, he judged that he had either killed it or else it was coiled ready to spring. So he tossed the stone in the air in such a way that it fell just behind the rock which hid the snake from his sight. It made no sound when it struck from which he judged that it must have landed on the snake. He waited a moment longer and, hearing nothing, judged that the sake must be dead. So he stepped nearer until he could see over the rock.
The snake was dead, its head mashed to a jelly by the second rock which had landed fairly on it. It was a large one, fully as long as the one Sue had shot earlier in the day.
"I'm going to keep those rattles," he said to himself as he drew his knife from his pocket and cut them off.
He could not make quite so fast time now as he was obliged to favor his leg which now gave him considerable pain when he bore his weight on it.
"If I don't meet up with something before long I'll have to give it up, as I promised to turn up before dark," he thought as he pulled out his watch and noted that it was nearly four o'clock. "If I don't strike something in another half-hour I'll turn back. That'll give me time to get back before dark, I guess."
It was about twenty minutes later when the sharp crack of a rifle brought him to a quick stop.
"That wasn't very far away," he thought as he listened.
Then, a moment later he heard the sound of a man's voice off to his right. He was unable to distinguish the words although, from the sound, he could not be far away. The forest was very dense and he felt sure that he could creep fairly close to them without running much risk. So he turned from the path and, moving with extreme caution, crept from tree to tree, listening all the while. Soon he heard the voice again and now it was nearer, so near, in fact, that he had no difficulty in hearing what he said.
"It's about time Red was gettin' here, don't you think?" the voice asked.
"He'll get here all right, give him time," a second voice replied.