"Well, four are all right!" cried Roger, and was about to rush forward
to pick up the grouse when of a sudden Dave yelled to him to stop.
"What's the matter?" asked the senator's son.
"A snake!" screamed Phil. And as he spoke all in the party saw what Dave
had first discovered. A rattlesnake had appeared from a hole in a tree,
close to where the dead grouse lay!
CHAPTER XXVI
AFTER DEER
"A rattlesnake!"
"Take care that he doesn't bite you!"
"My, what a big fellow!"
"He is heading this way!"
Such were some of the cries uttered by the young hunters and Sid Todd as
all beheld a large-sized snake crawling from a hole under the tree. That
it was a rattler there was no doubt.
All leaped back, for the sight momentarily stunned them. But then Dave
recovered his presence of mind and blazed away with his shotgun, hitting
the reptile in the middle, and inflicting several ugly but not mortal
wounds. The rattlesnake gave a hiss, glided under some leafy bushes, and
there commenced to sound his rattles.
"He's going to strike!" cried Phil, and as he spoke the shotgun in Sid
Todd's hands was discharged. He fired among the leaves, and whether or
not he hit the snake, nobody could tell.
"Don't go near him," called out Roger.
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