mind if part of the name was Mr.
Carson's. I don't like Frederick very well, so it would have to be
Carson. Well, Rosslyn Brooks Carson Vane sounds quite pretty--very
pretty--I like it ever so much. I wonder what Mrs. McKittrick will think
of it."

She looked around to see what had become of the mother, and beheld a
sight that froze the blood in her veins. Close beside the wagon under
which the sleeping baby lay was a huge snake coiled as if ready to
spring, and her heart stood still with terror as she realized that one
move of those little unconscious hands might mean death for the precious
darling. She tried to scream, but her voice stuck in her throat. She
looked wildly about her for help, but the children were wandering on
the river bank gathering flowers and Mr. Carson was busy with the
talking machine which was evidently out of order. Dr. Vane was nowhere
in sight nor were any of the women within call.

She must rescue the baby herself. She had often seen Tom kill snakes
since they had come to live on the desert, and once he had dispatched a
large rattler not far from their cottage, though poisonous reptiles were
not often found so close to town. Oh, if Tom were only there!

Then her glance fell upon a smooth rock at her feet. She was a good
shot, but could she risk it with that little life hanging in the
balance? There was another stone, and another. She clutched them with
trembling hands, crept cautiously forward and, taking careful aim,
hurled the rock at the head of the coiled serpent. She missed, the snake
coiled, more tightly, sounded its warning and sprung straight towards
her. This was what she had hoped for; and leaping nimbly aside, before
he could coil for another spring, she struck him squarely on the head,
following that blow up with a perfect rain of rocks, carefully keeping
out of range lest he should coil again, and hurling each missile with
all her fierce strength, losing her fear of her opponent as her anger
grew.

Suddenly a shot rang sharply through the air, there was a sound of
excited voices, the children came running toward her with the baby's
white-faced mother in advance; and Tabitha, dropping weakly to the
ground, burst into wild, hysterical sobs. With his smoking pistol still
covering the shattered reptile, Dr. Vane, almost as white as the frantic
mother, gathered the trembling girl in his arms and tried to soothe her
fright, saying, "There, there, my little Puss; it is all over! Th