“Oh, I have a riddle!” suddenly cried Laddie. “When is a bad bull a good bull?”
“After he gets whipped, maybe,” suggested Russ.
“After they give him salt,” said Rose, when Laddie had said Russ was wrong.
“No, that isn’t it,” the riddle-giver replied. “A bad bull is a good bull when he’s asleep.”
“He’s like some children I know,” said Mrs. Bunker, with a smile.
Then they reached the place where the wild flowers grew and began to pick them. There were many and beautiful blossoms. Rose was reaching over to gather a red bloom when suddenly she heard a queer sound near her.
“Oh, Russ!” she cried. “It’s a rattlesnake!”
CHAPTER XXIII
A MEAN BOY
Rose dropped her bunch of wild flowers and ran toward her brother. As for Russ, he hardly knew what to do. He, also, had heard the buzzing, rattling sound and he had heard stories of how poisonous rattlesnakes are.
“Don’t let him get me! Don’t let the snake bite me!” Rose cried.