Good, old, honest Jim, led away by his trickster comrade! It was very plain.

So I was to be frightened by snakes.
"These old canyon beds are ideal dens for rattle snakes," chimed in my scientific California friend.

"I have found several dens, but did not molest them as this is a particularly dangerous time of the year to meddle with the reptiles.

Quite likely there's a den under the cabin." While he made this remarkable statement, he had the grace to hide his face in a huge puff of smoke.

He, too, was in the plot.