The boy had been watching the rattler for some time now .

It seemed unaware of the eight year old child , lying on his stomach on the small rock just overhead .

The youngster kept very quiet , then he slowly extended his right hand towards the reptile that seemed asleep in the warm sun .

The hand hovered only inches from the reptile `s head now .

Just as the young hunter intended to catch the animal with a firm grip in the neck he heard the scream .

To the child the scream seemed unreal .

It had nothing to do with reality as he knew it.

And yet it had come from the cabin . This could only mean one thing .

His mother must be dying .

Nobody who was still going to live could scream like that.

The boy kept very still , so as not to disturb the deadly reptile he had been about to catch .

He then began to withdraw his hand so slowly that even a keen observer might not have noticed the movement .

At last he quietly stood up and walked towards the hut .