"A hoss ain't got no use for rattlers--and I ain't nuther," he added, and rode away, with the boys beside him.
"What about the grouse ?" asked Phil, mournfully.
"Do you want to go back after them ?" questioned Dave, with a grim smile.
"Not for a thousand dollars!" "Then I guess we'll have to let the snakes have them," went on Dave.
"Let us be thankful that we weren't bitten." "Rattlesnakes is the one drawback to this country," said the cowboy, when they were a safe distance from the reptiles.

"I don't mind wild beasts, but I do draw the line on snakes.

But there ain't near so many as there used to be, an' some day there won't be any at all." "After this I am going to beware of holes that look snaky," was Roger's comment.

"I think if a rattlesnake got close to me I'd be paralyzed with fright." As they went on, they kept their eyes open for more game, and just before resting for dinner Dave saw some grouse high up in a tree in a hollow.

With caution they advanced, this time on horseback, and all fired together as before.