"Daddy Luke, can you _kill_ the snake?"

"Yessum, mistress," he replied.

"Daddy Luke, can you _kill_ the snake?"

"Yessum, mistress."

"Daddy Luke, can you _kill_ the snake?"

"Yessum, mistress."

"Shoot!!"

He took careful aim and fired. The huge reptile rolled to the floor.

When the men returned to the yard to work near the woodpile, the mate
was discovered by one of the dogs that barked until a log was moved and
the second snake killed.

[HW: In those days] small snakes were not feared and for several years
it was customary for women to carry a tiny green snake in their bosoms.
This fad was discontinued when one of the women was severely injured
through a bite on her chest.

Phil remembers when the stars fell in 1833. "They came down like rain,"
he said. When asked why he failed to keep some, he replied that he was
afraid to touch them even after they became black.