"'No,' he says, 'rattlesnakes is all right--good, sociable, moral
snakes enough; but in a sperit of humor they may bite you or some
play like that, an' thar you'd be. No; bull-snakes is as 'fectionate
as rattles, an' don't run to p'ison. You don't have no
inadvertencies with 'em.'
"'Can't you bust the fangs outen rattlesnakes?' I asks.
"'They grows right in ag'in,' says Crawfish, same as your finger-
nails. I ain't got no time to go scoutin' a rattlesnake's mouth
every day, lookin' up teeth, so I don't worry with 'em, but plays
bull-snakes straight. This bein' dentist for rattlesnakes has resks,
which the same would be foolish to assoom.'
"While grub's cookin' an' Crawfish an' me's pow-wowin', a little old
dog Crawfish has--one of them no-account nce-dogs--comes up an'
makes a small uprisin' off to one side with Julius Caesar. The dog
yelps an' snaps, an' Julius Caesar blows an' strikes at him, same as
a rattle. snake. However, they ain't doin' no harm, an' Crawfish
don't pay no heed.
"'They's runnin' blazers on each other,' says Crawfish, 'an' don't
mean nothin'. Bimeby Caribou Pete--which the same is the dog--will
go lie down an' sleep; an' Julius Caesar will quile up ag'in him to
be warm.
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