skilled hunter and a good shot, but his bullets have so far been wasted on the heath.
“It was not only his size, but his extraordinary speed, which astounded the farm hand who first saw him.
“ ‘I was cutting a rye field and had stopped my mower to rest the horses.’ he said, ‘when I heard a low whistle, which I thought must be a locust. I throwed my eye over the field. Locust, the devil! It was a black racer. The head and about two feet of the snake stuck out above the level of the rye, and he swept across the field faster than a horse can run. He passed close to me and his eyes flashed like fire.’
“At another time the snake was surprised by a woodcutter, who came upon his snakeship taking a nap at full length on a rail fence. When aroused the snake snapped together like a stretched elastic band and glided off into the woods.
“Here was a chance to take his measure, as the serpent was slightly longer than the rail he occupied. The rail measured ten feet.
“Since then the racer has grown enormously. His agility has enabled him to capture and devour scores of toads and birds, with now and then fowl from the henhouse.
“One night the farmer was awakened, so the story goes, an unusual commotion in the barnyard. All the animals on the place were excited—the horses were stamping, the cows bawling, chickens cackling and geese quaking. Above all was the terrified squealing of a pig. The farmer lit his
