| Show at clr W J W 0 I 1 V pa K I 1 az 4 I 1 A S 11 I 1 li ia I 1 W I 1 tie a will trot daku with WIM t 1 aade have seen a 1 food d many many rattle perhaps Ps IL a hundred or more lachese la In these mountains t says zohn john z muir lr in the than november vember atlantic but I 1 have nerr sr intentionally disturbed thern them nar nor have they disturbed me ril to any great extent even eren by accident though they were oftentimes in danger of being stepped on om once while on my knees fences kindling a fire one glided under the arch made by my arms the last time I 1 sauntered through the big canon I 1 saw saw about two a days day one was not colac d but neatly folded in a narrow space between two cobblestones on the side of the river hla his head below the level of them ready to shoot up like a jack ln la the box for frogs or birds my foot spanned the space above within an inch or two of his head bead but he be only held tt it lower in making my way through a particularly tedious tangle of buckthorn I 1 patted parted the branches on the side of an open pot and threw my bundle bund leof of bread into it and when with my arms fr free I 1 was pushing through after it I 1 saw a small rattlesnake dragging its tall tail from beneath my bundle when he aught sight of me he eyed me angrily and with an air of righteous indignation seemed to be asking why I 1 had thrown that stuff on him he was so 80 small I 1 was inclined to slight bt him M but he be struck out so angrily I 1 drew back and approached the opening from the other side but he had been listening and when I 1 looked through the brush I 1 round found him me still with a come ln in lf if Y you on dare expression in vain rain I 1 tried to explain that I 1 only wanted my bread he stoutly held the ground in front of it and I 1 was afraid that if he came nearer he might close in on me and strike before I 1 could get away in such a tangle so I 1 just went back a dozen rods and kept still tor for half an hour and when I 1 returned found he be had bad gone |
