“And did it work; was the old bird so little alarmed that she’d come back to her nest before the eggs got chilled?” continued Perk.
“Just what she did,” assented the eager photographer, “and as soon as I saw everything was O. K. I did the business. Knew just when the trigger sprang, too, for I noticed her give a little jump at the click. Then she flew off again as I stepped up to recover my camera that lay on the ground. I certainly do hope I’ve struck a decent picture; but if not I’ll just keep on trying till I do.”
“That’s the right spirit, Amos,” chuckled Elmer. “Just keep it up and you’re bound to get there sooner or later.”
Then the newcomer had to be told about Perk’s thrilling adventure, as well as shown the rattle of the dead snake by the proud victor in the battle royal. The reader may rest assured that by the time all three boys had given their separate version of the encounter, Amos was fully posted regarding every detail possible.
“You came out of it in prime shape, Perk,” he said, heartily; “but luck was on your side. If you’d happened to be a foot closer, there might have been a far different story to tell; and a heap anxious lot of fellows up here at Old Cabin Bend. I’ve known of chaps who were struck by a rattler, and died in spite of being dosed with whisky, and such things, under the idea that one poison can counteract another. For myself I like to give snakes a wide berth. I’ll step out of the trail every time to let one hold possession.”
“It’s really the safest plan,” assented Elmer.
“But that isn’t just all my news, boys,” continued the ardent photographer. “Down under the river bank I found a heap of little tracks, mink footprints for a certainty, showing that one old chap roams around there, anyway. And to-night, Elmer, I’d like to have you help me set my camera trap, hoping to coax Mr. Mink to sit for his own picture.”
“You can count on me in anything you ask, Amos,” he was told most heartily as the roofers again got busy with their pounding.
After they had partaken of a light lunch, meaning to have the big meal of the day come at evening, when their tasks would all be finished, they lay around resting and dozing, for it had become quite warm.
Perk, however, showed signs of continued nervousness. Perhaps he had received a greater shock during his encounter with the rattler than he cared to admit; then again the suspicion that an escaped lunatic was hovering around, and trying to spy upon them, was in itself quite enough to make him uneasy.