Two young men once found what they thought was a granddaddy rattlesnake. It was a timber rattler, about six feet long. One of them picked up a large boulder and was about to flatten the big reptile's head, when the other exclaimed, "Hold it. Let's take him alive and have some fun!"
The boys captured the snake by holding its head down with a forked stick and grasping it around the neck, just behind the head. One of them went back to his house and sneaked away with his mother's needle and some thread. He returned to the other boy, who was having trouble holding the angry rattler.

Working together, the boys finally managed to use the needle and thread to sew the snake's lips together. Then they set out for a lonely cabin, about a half mile up a nearby hollow. They carried the now harmless, writhing snake between them.

The cabin belonged to a man, who lived alone. The fellow was somewhat a hermit; not especially liked by any of his neighbors. He never had any thing to do with them, and they didn't, with him.

The boys knew that the man was working in his cornfield. They sneaked into his house and walked to the bed. The bed was well made up. The boys carefully placed the snake under the bed covering. They tucked the cover under the mattress, so the snake couldn't easily get out. Then they left the house.

The two practical jokers hid behind the trunk of a large tree, which was some distance from the house, but commanded a good view of it. It was about time for the owner to return.

The fellow soon returned. He cooked and ate his supper and lit a kerosene lamp when it got dark. After an hour or so, the light was put out. The boys knew that the man had gone to bed.

The boys waited and waited. yet nothing happened, not even a sound from the cabin. They thought the rattler must have crawled from the bed covering and escaped. There was nothing they could do, but consider the prank a failure and go home. But just as they started to leave, there was an unearthly scream from the cabin.

It was a clear night and the cabin could be dimly seen. The boys stood still with their eyes glued on the house. The door did not open. Instead, it came sailing through the air, and the dark form of a man streaked from the opening, where the door had been.

The young boys laughed all the way home. Little did they realize or care about the harm they had done; all in the name of a practical joke.