He still held the boot, his fingers gripping it tightly.

He raised it, with a purely involuntary motion, as though to hurl it at his insidious enemy.

But he did not.

The arm fell to his side, and his face slowly whitened.

He stared dully and uncomprehendingly at the sinuous shape that was slipping noiselessly away through the matted grass.
Somehow, he had never thought of being bitten by a rattler.