thrust his red tongue forth—as if a bit of the flames had already reached us. ९९ Fortunately, this particular wisest of all the beasts of the field" was not disposed to tarry. In another second he had swung to the ground and was making a thousand 5 graceful curves in the swift water for the farther bank. The world, even the world of books, seems to know nothing at all about the wonderful snakes that live in the woods. The woods rattlesnake is as large as at least twenty ordinary rattlesnakes, and Indians say it is en- 10 tirely harmless. The enormous black snake, I know, is entirely without venom. In all my life, spent mostly in the camp, I have seen only three of those monstrous yellow woods rattlesnakes-one in Indiana, one in Oregon, and the other on this occasion here on the banks of the 15 McCloud. Such bright eyes! It was hard to stop looking at them. Meantime a good many bears had come and gone. The bear is a good swimmer and takes to the water without fear. He is, in truth, quite a fisherman; so much of a 20 fisherman, in fact, that in salmon season here his flesh is unfit for food. The pitiful part of it all was to see such little creatures as could not swim clinging all up and down and not daring to take to the water. Unlike their domesticated brothers, we saw several wild- 25 cats take to the water promptly. The wildcat, you must know, has no tail to speak of. But the panther and Californian lion are well equipped in this respect and abhor the water. I constantly kept an eye over my shoulder at the ledge 5 or little bluff of rocks, expecting to see a whole row of lions and panthers sitting there, almost "cheek by jowl" with my English friends, at any moment. But strangely enough, we saw neither panther nor lion; nor did we see a single grizzly among all the bears that came that way. 10 We now noticed that one of the Indians had become fascinated or charmed by looking too intently at the enormous serpent in our midst. The snake's huge, coffinshaped head, as big as your open palm, was slowly swaying from side to side. The Indian's head was doing the same, 15 and their eyes were drawing closer and closer together. Whatever there may be in the Bible story of Eve and the serpent, whether a figure or a fact, who shall say?— it is certainly, in some sense, true. An Indian will not kill a rattlesnake. But to break 20 the charm, in this case, they caught their companion by the shoulders and forced him back flat on the ground. And there he lay, crying like a child, the first and only Indian I ever saw cry. And then suddenly boom! boom! boom! as if heaven burst. It began to rain in torrents. And just then, as we began to breathe freely and feel safe, there came a crash and bump and bang above our 25 25 heads and high over our heads, from off the ledge behind us! Over our heads like a rocket, in an instant and clear into the water, leaped a huge black bear, a ball of fire, his fat sides in flame! He sank out of sight, but soon came up, spun around like a top, dived again, then again 5 spun around. But he got across, I am glad to say — and this always pleases my little girl, Juanita. He sat there on the bank looking back at us quite a time. Finally he washed his face, like a cat, then quietly went away. The rattlesnake was the last to cross. The beautiful 10 yellow beast was not at all disconcerted, but with the serenest dignity lifted her yellow folds, coiled and uncoiled slowly, curved high in the air, arched her glittering neck of gold, widened her body till broad as your two hands, and so slid away over the water to the other side 15 through the wild, white rain. The cloudburst put out the fire instantly, showing that, though animals have superhuman foresight, they don't know everything before the time. The Indians made their moaning and whimpering 20 friend, who had been overcome by the snake, pull himself together, and they swam across and gathered up the cattle." ९९ Some men say a bear cannot leap, but I say there are times when a bear can leap like a tiger. This was one of 25 the times. QUESTIONS AND HELPS 1. Tell or write a story about this author—where he was born, where he went, and what he did, until he began to work in the mining camp. 2. Tell about his life in the mining camp and among the Indians. 3. Tell what he did after he came back to live among the whites. do 4. Describe a forest fire. 5. How did the horses act, and how you suppose they knew what was the matter? 6. What were the long rows of black and brown noses that were seen in the arroyo? Tell what you can about the animals to which they belonged. What use do these animals make of their horns? 7. Why did the deer and the other wild animals take no notice of the men on the bank of the river? 8. Tell about the rattlesnake—what he did, and how the men behaved. What is the difference between the woods rattlesnake and the ordinary rattlesnake? 9. Why is the flesh of the bear unfit for food during the salmon season? 10. What is the "domesticated brother" of the wildcat? 11. Tell what happened to the bear in this story and how he saved himself. Other stories of Joaquin Miller in "True Bear Stories" will be interesting here. Ernest Thompson Seton's "Biography of a Grizzly," William J. Long's story of the bear in "Ways of Wood Folk," and the book called "Bear Stories from St. Nicholas' are also good. arroyo (ǎr roy'ō): a ravine or gully. bull (bull): means here a male elk. making the bank: reaching the bank. dug up: slang for taken out of their pockets or baggage. avalanche (ǎv'å lånche) : a great mass falling suddenly. corrals (cor rălş ́): yards or pens. aye (1): yes. eloquent (ěl'o quent): strong and earnest in speech. awed (awed): made afraid. profound (pro found'): deep. stolid (stŏl ́íd): dull. embers (ĕm ́bers): pieces of charred or burned wood. barricade (băr ri cade'): a pile of things thrown up for protection. florid (flŏr ́ĭd): ruddy, red-faced. supple (supple): soft and bending. wisest of all the beasts of the field refers to the Bible, where it is said that "the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field." tarry (tǎrry): stop. venom (věn ́om): the poison of a snake. domesticated (do měs'tĭcātĕd): tame. equipped (e kwipped'): furnished. abhor (ǎb hôr'): hate or shudder at. cheek by jowl: side by side. fascinated (fǎsíci nat ĕd): charmed. palm (pä/m): palm of the hand. disconcerted (dis con çert'ěd): disturbed or confused. serenest (se rẽn'ěst): calmest. superhuman (sū pēr hū ́măn): more than human. whimpering (whim'per Ing): whin- Joaquin (Wä kïn ́). (For memorizing) WHITE BUTTERFLIES ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE Fly, white butterflies, out to sea, Frail, pale wings for the wind to try, Some fly light as a laugh of glee, Some fly soft as a long, low sigh; All to the haven where each would be, |