ed up a stone as large as his
hand. This he dropped directly on the quivering head, and thus ended the
battle, although the body of the snake continued to wriggle for a long
while afterward.

With white face and set teeth, Darry continued to play his catch and he
was still at it when Joe and his brother came rushing up.

"Did the snake bite you?" questioned the young captain. "Why didn't you
pull in?"

"I've got something big on," answered Darry. "I didn't want to miss it."

"Well, I never!" gasped Captain Moore. "And you didn't let go even with
that snake at your heels? Well, you like a fish better than I do, I can
tell you that."

Again the pole bent and threatened to break, but Darry knew what he was
doing, and promptly let the fish have more line. Then he wound in, and
as the fish unexpectedly came close to shore he gave a sudden strong,
steady sweep, and up came the prize on the rocks, flapping and flopping
violently.

"My, what a whopper!" cried Joe. "He must weigh at least seven or eight
pounds!"

"He felt as if he weighed about forty when he was in the water,"
returned Darry, a little crest-fallen that the catch was not larger.

"That's the biggest fish I've ever seen taken out of this stream," said
the young captain. "You can be proud of it, Darry. But to hold on when
that snake was behind you----" He shook his head.

"Oh, I knew you'd come up and take care of that, Cousin Will."

"But I might have been too late."

"Was it a poisonous one?"

"Some claim they are poisonous, but the surgeon up at the fort says not.
Still I wouldn't want to risk a bite."

"Perhaps there are more around," suggested Joe.

"No, the peculiarity of this variety of snakes is that they always
travel alone. If they meet they fight until one or the other is dead."

"Did you ever see such a fight, Will?"

"I did, when I first came to these parts. I was riding over a rocky
trail when my horse suddenly stopped, nearly throwing me. On looking
ahead to find out what had frightened my animal, I discovered two of
these snakes. They were facing each other, with mouths wide open and
fangs showing. Each was so interested in the other that neither noticed
me or the horse. They faced each other for fully a minute, and during
that time began to hiss louder and louder. Suddenly they sprang at each
other, and one snake was stung in the eye. He curled himself around the
other snake's neck, and in an instant both were in a tight ball. T