Thirty years on the frontier . re were no eagles, the rattlesnakes wouldhave no enemy in the sky or upon the earth,save man, to fear. The eagle likewise has nofear of anything, unless it be the glisteningyellow and brown poisonous creature of therocks—the rattler. Thus it lives forever—the death feud of theeagle of the Montezumas and the serpentfather of the Mokis—the rattler. How it began I did not see. I was standingnear the top of a big stony crag that glistenedin the bright light looking over the vast opensand great basins of the Palm Desert whichwe were to cross, when my attention wasattr
Thirty years on the frontier . re were no eagles, the rattlesnakes wouldhave no enemy in the sky or upon the earth,save man, to fear. The eagle likewise has nofear of anything, unless it be the glisteningyellow and brown poisonous creature of therocks—the rattler. Thus it lives forever—the death feud of theeagle of the Montezumas and the serpentfather of the Mokis—the rattler. How it began I did not see. I was standingnear the top of a big stony crag that glistenedin the bright light looking over the vast opensand great basins of the Palm Desert whichwe were to cross, when my attention wasattracted by the flop of something strikingthe sands a hundred feet away. I could notsee what it was, but a moment later I saw aneagle swoop down and rise slowly, holdingwithin its mailed claws, a snake. The bigbird soared up a hundred feet or more andshook the snake loose, which fell twisting andcoiling with a distinctly audible ^ flop—thenoise that first attracted my and again the bird swooped, arose with. Truer hearts I never expect to find (page 78). THIKTY YEAKS ON THE FKONTIER. 81 the serpent and dropped it, while Wither-spoon drew closer and closer to watch. Then the eagle—a young one, as we couldtell by its size and plumage—struck andfailed to rise. Witherspoon was now closeenough to see everything that happened. The young bird had almost exhausted it-self in its struggles with the snake, and may,too, have been bitten by it. At any rate, itwas upon the sands, its wings slightly spread,as if from the heat—its mouth open. Thesnake was recovering from its jolting fall,and slowly gathering its coils. It rested a moment in position, and thenstruck the eagle, the fangs entering the cor-ner of the birds mouth, in the soft tissues atthe base of the beak. The eagle recovered from the shock, stoodmotionless a few seconds, while the rattlerwatched as only a rattler can, and spreadingout its wings, toppled over. Then the man—man who hates serpents asthe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectfrontie, bookyear1906
