"But if foolin' him had been left to me I expect I'd have made a bad job of it.
But I'm thinkin' that he done his little old dyin' when the sun went down last night.

An' I'm still here.

An' I'll keep right on, usin' his brothers an' sisters for targets--when I think that I'm needin' practice." "Then you killed the snake ?" "Why sure, ma'am.

I wasn't figgerin' to let that rattler go a-fannin' right on to hook someone else.

That'd be encouragin' his trade." She laughed, evidently pleased over his earnestness.