er that had pushed under the skin, just far enough to
bring a drop or two of blood, and give Step Hen a sharp pain.

"Oh! thank you, Thad!" exclaimed the other, as though vastly relieved.
"You see, I just detest all kinds of crawlers the worst kind; and that
talk about rattlers, and the bounty paid for their tails, must have been
hanging on my mind. When I felt that sudden sharp jab, of course the
first thing that flashed into my brain was that I'd tumbled on the nest
of a rattlesnake, and he took me for one of the bounty jumpers. But only
a sliver of wood--huh, I can stand that easy enough."

"Suck it good and plenty," advised the far seeing Thad. "I always do as
soon as I get a cut of any kind, and especially if it's a splinter.
Sometimes it keeps you from getting poison in your system, that makes a
bad sore."

Step Hen obediently did as he was told. At least he had implicit
confidence in the patrol leader, and was ready to follow his advice
under the slightest provocation. That was a feather in the cap of Thad
Brewster, in that he possessed the full confidence of his comrades. They
believed in him, and were never in a state of mutiny concerning the
orders he gave, as leader of the Silver Fox Patrol.

Once more the two boys tramped on. Thad thought it might be as well to
impart a little useful information concerning the dormant condition of
all snakes during winter time; and how many a bunch of the wrigglers he
had found, while the cold season was on, looking as though they were
frozen stiff.

This information he imparted in almost a whisper as they moved along.
When out looking for deer, a muffler on speech is of paramount
importance; and knowing all about this, Thad soon relapsed into silence.

"Tell you more some other time, Step Hen," he remarked as a wind-up;
"that is, if you care to hear more about snakes. No matter how you
dislike the breed, you really ought to know more than you seem to, about
their habits. It might be the means of saving you from trouble some fine
day, when, by accident, you happen to run across some reptile in the
woods. And now we'll forget all that. I'm not going to say another word,
unless I have to."

They kept pushing on; and Step Hen began to believe they must be many
miles from their starting point; at any rate he began to feel a little
heavy-footed, though too proud to mention the fact to Thad. Besides,
Step Hen had walked pretty good distances before, and believed that he
mu