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112 way ahead he dropped the black thing. But instead of wiggling or trying to bite, it was very still.

"It—it's dead," said Nan. "Snap has killed it."

Freddie was braver now. He went closer.

"Why—why!" he exclaimed. "It isn't a snake at all! It's only an old black root of a tree, all twisted up like a snake! Look, Nan—Flossie!"

Taking courage, the girls went up to look. Snap stood over it, wagging his tail as proudly as though he had captured a real snake. As Freddie had said, it was only a tree root.

"But it did look a lot like a snake in the grass," said the little fellow.

"It must have," agreed Nan. "It looked like one even when Snap had it. But I'm glad it wasn't."

"So am I," spoke Grace, and Nellie made a like remark.

Snap frisked about, barking as though to ask praise for what he had done.

"He is a good dog," observed Freddie, hearing which the animal almost wagged his