"FOR SOME TIME THE BOYS RESTED ON THE SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN."
For some time the boys rested on the side of the mountain, looking out over the country below them, and at the river which flowed not far away. Then they started up again, and soon reached the Break-Neck Rocks.
These rocks covered several acres, and between them were clefts or openings, often a yard or more wide at the top, and extending downward for fifteen or twenty feet. In the middle of the day, when the sun shone down into these great fissures, the ground at the bottom was a favorite resort for rattlesnakes; and here it was old Ramsay had meant the boys to look for them.
Tom and Charlie now began their search, stepping from rock to rock, and carefully looking into every cleft. It was not long before they saw very plainly a large rattlesnake on the ground at the bottom of the cleft. He was coiled up, and evidently fast asleep.
"How are we going to get him?" whispered Charlie. "The pole won't reach down there."
"I think we can manage it," said Tom. "I'll get part of the way down, and then you can hand me the pole, and I'll rouse him up, and when he sticks his head out to crawl, I will clap the crotch down over his neck, and hold him fast."
"All right," said Charlie.
Tom now began to cautiously clamber down the sides of the cleft. He had often gone down into these little ravines, but the walls here were much smoother than he had generally found them, and he did not meet with many projections on which he could place his feet. He was, however, slowly working his way down, when, to his own horror, and that of Charlie, who was watching him from above, he suddenly began to slip. He vigorously thrust out his arms and legs on either side, and as the cleft gradually narrowed in a downward direction, he succeeded by a great exertion in stopping himself when about half-way down. But now his position was very critical. If he slipped to the bottom, he might not only hurt himself, but he would most likely come down with his bare feet right on the sleeping snake. In working his way down he had, without intending it, got into a position directly above the creature.
It was a situation of great peril, and Charlie, who watched the scene from above, was even more frightened than Tom. He reached down the pole to his companion, but Tom could not take either of his hands from the rocks to seize it, and even if he could have done so, it would have been of little service, for Charlie was not strong enough to pull him up.