 Ranger Bill, warrior of the woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, showing rare courage in the face of disaster, in the air, on horseback, or in a screaming squad car. Ranger Bill, his mind alert, already smile, unswerving, loyal to his mission, and all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. Goody, Jack. Come on in. Hi, Stumpy. Hello, Ranger Bill. Glad to see you, Jack. What brings you to Ranger Headquarters today? Just looking around for some excitement. Is Henry around? No, if he's not, he's up at Central City at that 4-H convention. Won't be back till next week. Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Well, I guess I'll be going then. I'll see you in church, Sunday. There's no need to rush off. If you don't have anything else to do, you're welcome to stick around for a while. Could I? Hey, that'd be great. I can't promise you any excitement, though. There's not a thing happening here right now. Wait a minute. See, two fellas just driving up in a pickup truck. I wonder who they are. We'll soon find out. Yes, sir? You the Ranger here? Yes. I'm Bill Jefferson. Come on in. These are my friends, Stumpy Jenkins and Jack Harris. I'm Sam Smith and this here's my son Danny. We'd like your permission to go rattlesnake hunting in these parts. Rattlesnake hunting? What a nerd you want to do that for? Danny and I catch poisonous snakes and sell them to the Florida Springs Reptile Institute. We make pretty good living attitude, don't we, Danny? Yeah, that's right, Dad. Well, we sure don't have any use for them. You'd be doing us a big favor if you got rid of some of our snake population, especially now that the tourist season is almost here. Every summer when the woods is full of campers, Bill and me do a lot of worrying about rattlers. I've had so much else to worry about this spring, though, I just ain't had a time star worrying about snakes. I never have known you to lose any sleep over it, old timer. It's true, though. Every spring we have to go out and try to get rid of the poisonous snakes around the campsites. Yeah, if it's okay with you, then we'll start hunting in the morning. We'll probably be around these parts about a week. We'd like to get about 50 or 60 rattlers, wouldn't we, Danny? Yeah, we sure would. Hey, do you suppose I could go with you tomorrow? We're studying reptiles in zoology now as a snake hunt. Boy, that'd be perfect for the report I have to give in class next week. It's not child's play, young fella. It can be pretty dangerous. I know that, but I know these woods pretty well, and I've tangled with rattlers myself a couple times. Jack really is an experienced woodsman. Most of our kids here are naughty pine, spend a lot of time hiking, camping out in the woods. Well, then, young fella, you ask your dad's permission, and if it's all right with him, it's all right with me. We'll be starting out about five o'clock tomorrow morning. Well, Danny, we'd best be going. We've got to get our hunting equipment and work in order. Young fella, you wear some high boots tomorrow. That'll give you some protection in case we meet up with some real lively snakes. Mr. Smith, you mean you're going to capture live snakes? Yep, they're no good to me dead. How are you going to do it? Oh, there's a couple of ways. Sometimes we just dig them out of their holes with a shovel. I'm going to show you a more interesting way, though. First, we'll have to scout around for a likely-looking hole. Sometimes you find them in an old gopher hole. You poke your flashlight down this hole, Danny. Nope, don't see any marks. Try this hole over here. Yeah, that kind of looks like snake tracks. Sometimes, if we're lucky, we find four or five of them bunched up in one hole. Are you going to try to catch them with that pole or the noose on the end? Yeah, that's my snake pole. I'm the pole man and Danny's the shovel man. I try to catch the snake and this noose and then put him in a canvas bag. In case we get a real lively snake that I can't catch or if two come out at once and I can't catch them both, Danny's ready with a shovel there to whack their heads off. You got that link to hose and a gasoline can ready, Danny? Yeah, here they are. I've got the canvas bags ready, too. Well, if everything's ready then I'll just stick the end of the hole in the hole here and pour some gasoline through the funnel into the hose and then we'll blow on it. I hope they come out one at a time, nice and polite. There's one in there all right, dad. Yeah, he's coming out, too. Get ready. Here he comes. There's one snake in the bag. Here comes another one. I got him. Here come two at once. You get that one with a shovel, Danny. I can't handle both. That's three in the bag and one dead, not bad. Danny, you did a real good job chopping off that snake's head with your shovel. You'd better get that head buried right away. Why do you have to bury the head, Mr. Smith? Well, even a dead snake's fangs can be dangerous, Jack. They could punch a hole right through a thin, sole shoe. I don't think it's too likely that anyone would step on it, but I don't like to take chances. Say, I've been wondering, what does a reptile institute do with snakes you catch? Well, mostly they keep them and milk the venom out of their fangs. They use it to make antivenom. That's what they use to treat snake bite with. I sure hope I haven't been bothering you too much with all my questions, Mr. Smith. I'm really enjoying watching you catch snakes, and I'm getting lots of material for that zoology report. You haven't been any bothered at all, kid. Well, next hole we try, you can help with. And cut out that Mr. Smith stuff. Sam's the name. Down around home, they call me rattlesnake Sam. I can see why. You're welcome to come out hunting with us tomorrow, too, if you want to. I sure like to, but I can't tomorrow. Tomorrow's Sunday. I'll be going to Sunday school and church. Why don't you come to church with me? Rattlesnake Sam, go to church. That'd be the day. Me and Danny, we don't have time for that kind of stuff. Do we, Danny? I guess that's right, Dad. I would like to go to church, though. I used to go regular. Well, Danny, you remember what I told you when you first started going snake hunting with me. Well, I'll tell you how it is, Jack. The way I figure things, that religion stuff just makes a man soft. And in the business we're in, there ain't room for no softies. It's a mighty, rough and tough game. I know what you mean. Must take real nerve to stand there with a shovel like you do. Especially Danny, just ready to kill a snake as he looks at him. I sure don't see what you mean, though, about religion being for softies. Bill and Stumpy go to church every Sunday, and there's nothing soft about either one of them. You say them rangers, church goers? Sure. It's kind of surprising to hear a fellow talking like that. I wouldn't want to make fun of you either. It's a fine thing, but it's just not for me. I try to do right by everybody, and I think I'm as good as the next guy. That's all the religion I got, and that's all I need. Well, Jack, did you enjoy the snake hunt yesterday? I sure did. It was great. I really learned a lot, too. You don't say. Have some more bacon and eggs, Jack. Thanks. Sure, I'm hungry. If it ever comes today when you're not hungry, young fella, you let me know. Then I'd like to see. Don't let Stumpy bother you, Jack. We're glad you stopped by to have breakfast with us. Yep, sure are. Henry gone up to Central City has been mighty quiet around here. Jack, do you think Sam and Danny really know their business? Wow, do they ever? I mean, they must have caught about a dozen live snakes yesterday. Hey, we'd better hurry up. We should leave for the church in about 15 minutes. And by the way, Jack, what are your snake hunting friends doing today? Well, they're going hunting again. Sam has no use for Christianity. But Danny, well, I think he's a Christian. He's so quiet. He never did exactly say so, but that's the impression I got. I know Sam's wife's a Christian. So Sam's not a Christian, huh? I'll tell you what, fellas, let's make Sam a matter of special prayer this morning. Snake hunter, wait for me! Oh, cut out that snake hunter stuff, will ya? Ah, I was just kidding. Hey, you gonna eat in the cafeteria? Yeah, I guess so. Ah, it sure is a nice day, though. Maybe I'll buy a sandwich and a carton of milk. Take it outside and eat. Hey, that sounds like a great idea. No sense wasting the first warm day we've had this spring. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get on down to the cafeteria. That really was a swell report about snake hunting, ya gave in zoology this morning, Jack. You know, don't you think you're gonna make the rest of us look sick? I mean, just sick. What do you mean? The report was full of action. We had all of us sitting on the edges of our chairs. My report's due tomorrow. Well, I've got stuff I copied out of the Encyclopedia. Hey, uh, what's old man Cobb doing down there? He's putting in a new fence down by the road. No, no, that's not what I mean. He just picked up a big sack or something from the side of the road there, see? A sack? Hey, that looks like one of Sam Smith's sacks. Oh, no. Mr. Cobb, Mr. Cobb, don't open that bag, Mr. Cobb. Don't open it. Well, his bag's full of snakes. Hell, ouch, who, who, he bit me. Well, Danny Boy, we sure had us a nice hunt this week. We must've got 50 or 60 rattlers. Yeah, sure is nice country there around Naughty Pine. I wouldn't mind going back there again sometime. Me neither. Mind you, nice people around there. Hey, here's a gas station coming up on the right. We better fill up the tank and stretch your legs a bit. It's going to be a long ride home. What'll it be, Mac? Uh, fill her up, regular. Right. Yeah, what's the matter? Well, didn't we have five bags of snakes back here? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I know that's how many we had. We started out with half a dozen and we had one empty left over. Well, there's only four back here now. Huh? Are you sure? One, two, three, four. That's all there are. One must've bounced out somewhere along the way. Never had that happen before. Say, Dad, do you remember back there in Naughty Pine, just at the edge of town when we hit that big bump in the road? It was right by the school. By the school? I hope not. I sure hope not. Danny, you pay the man, get the truck turned around, headed for Naughty Pine. I gotta put in a phone call to Ranger Bill. Ranger headquarters, Bill Jefferson speaking. This is Sam Smith, Ranger Bill. Oh, hello, Sam. What's on your mind? We was missing a bag of rattlers. What? Are you sure? Yeah. Hey, that's bad. We came out of town on route. Stumpy and I'll get down there as fast as we can. Mr. Cobb, that snake bit you, didn't he? Yeah, it got me on the hand. Well, all the dirty tricks. You want a sack of rattlesnakes right in front of a school? Sure like to know who did it. Watch out there, Jack. That brother's headed right toward you. He's going to get you, too, if you don't watch out. Hand me your shovel. Yeah, here. I don't know what you're going to try to do, but you be careful. You cut his head right off, need as can be. You'll have to have a shot of anti-venom right away. I'll flag down the first car that comes along and send you in to dock white. He'll fix you up in no time. It hurts like crazy. I guess I'm lucky you came along, though, Jack. You seem to know a lot about snakes. Well, to tell you the truth, most of what I know about snakes I learned just last week. I was helping a professional snake hunter named Sam Smith. I'm pretty sure these snakes belong to him, but I can't imagine how they got here unless they fell off his truck. See, what are you bearing that snake's head for? So nobody accidentally steps on it. That's the other thing I learned from Sam Smith. Oh, you'd better sit down there, Mr. Cobb. A person who's been bitten by a poisonous snake shouldn't move around or get excited. Here comes a car. It looks like Jim Brownlee. Hey, Jim! What's going on here? Mr. Cobb was just bitten by a snake. Can you take him to dock white? Oh, sure. I'll be there, Mr. Cobb. You remember what I said, Mr. Cobb. You take it real easy. No excitement, no moving around. Don't you worry, Jack. I'll have him at dock whites in less than two minutes. I'm pretty sure Mr. Cobb's going to be all right now. But I better do something about the rest of these snakes. They're pretty sluggish right now, but with the sun warming them up, they're going to start moving around. That means if I'm going to do anything about them, I better do it right now. I sure wish Sam and Danny Smith were here. They know what to do. Hey, Jack, what are you doing out there? You ever going to eat lunch? Wow, look at that. Big heap of rattlesnakes laying on the ground. Hey, Jack, you better get away from those snakes. You're going to get hurt. I can't just go away and leave them here. They'll be starting to move around and they'll be all over the schoolyard soon unless somebody does something about them. Hey, you guys. Look what's down here by the road. A whole bunch of rattlesnakes. Hey, where did the snakes come from, Jack? Is it true that old man Cobb found them in a canvas bag? Yes, it's true, and one of them bit Mr. Cobb. Hey, you fellas, it better get back into school. I'm afraid somebody is going to get hurt. Yeah, but Jack, who do you suppose put that bag of snakes out here? No one put it here. I think these rattlers belong to a professional snake hunter named Sam Smith. He left town this morning, and this bag must have fallen off his truck. Now, get back into the school, everybody. Jack, what's this I hear about snakes on the front lawn? Now, I'll see here if this is some kind of a joke then... Say, there really is a pile of snakes here. This is no joke, Mr. Bailey. You've got to get these kids back into school before someone gets hurt. Jack's right. Get back into school now, all of you. Would you go inside, too? I suppose I should, sir, but I was thinking maybe I should catch these snakes before they go crawling off all over the front lawn. You have a point there. I'm afraid we can hardly dismiss school today until these rattlers are disposed of. Do you know anything about handling snakes? Yes, sir. A little. What can I do to help you? Well, I'm not sure. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do. If you would telephone Ranger Bill, that would be a big help. I'll do that. Hey, that snake's starting to crawl around. Uh-oh. He's headed right for me. Now, where's that shovel? No chance of getting to it now. If I make a sudden move, he might strike. Still haven't told me what's up. Well, to tell you the truth, Stumpy, I'm not sure myself what's up. Sam Smith called me and said he lost a canvas bag full of rattlers in the back of his truck. Not sure, but he thinks it might have bounced out right in front of the school. Wee! Hoppin Horn Toads! I sure hope he's wrong about where he lost it. I hope so, too, Stumpy. I don't know how Sam Smith fastens those canvas sacks it is. I suppose there's always a chance the sack might come open somehow and the snakes escape. What could be worse than that, Bill? It would be if someone saw that sack land along the road and took it into his head to open it up. See what's inside? Yeah, you're right. If the sack did land near the school, it's pretty likely that some curious kids will find it. Then maybe we're too late. Maybe some of them kids got bit already. Yeah, maybe. When we started out, the only thought I had in mind was to get to the school as soon as possible. Now, I think maybe it would pay us to stop here at Doc White's office. We'll take him along with us. Doc White and a big supply of anti-venom. You had much use for religion, but I've tried to be a good man. I know that, Dad. You've always been a good dad to us kids. I've never been a religious man, but I've always tried to do right by the other fella. I tell you, Danny, it scares me to think that some innocent person might get hurt just because I had lost a bag of snakes. That's no fault of yours that there was a bump in the road. Nothing like this ever happened before. Well, I've never had that many snakes pile up in the back of the truck either. I maybe could have tied the bags down with a piece of rope if I thought of it. Dad, maybe... maybe God would sort of take care of the people. Protect them from the snakes, I mean. If I asked him to, if you wouldn't mind, that is. No, I wouldn't mind, Danny. If you want to pray, you go right ahead. In fact, I think it's a good idea. Hey, Jack, if you ever got an audience, practically the whole school is watching you from the windows to see what you're gonna do next. You know, in the gym, in the boy's shower room, there's a bunch of old equipment there with a couple of tarpaulins thrown over it. Would one of you fellas get me one of those tarps and throw it out the window to me? Sure, Jack. Right away. Now, while he's getting a tarp, I'll just gather up some of these steel fence posts Mr. Cog was putting in. Okay, Jack, here's your tarp. Thanks. Now, just throw the tarp over the rattlers and weigh it down with these fence posts. They can't get out of that. We're almost back to naughty pine school. I'll slow down. You start keeping your eyes peeled for that big bag of snakes. Okay, Dad. Look, there's Jack standing out in front of the school. Jack, we lost a bag full of rattlers. Have you seen it? I sure have. Where is it? Right here in the front of the school. I didn't find it. Mr. Cobb, the school gardener did. He was putting in a new fence out here when he noticed it lying along the road. Naturally, he wondered what it was, so opened it up. I'm almost afraid to ask. Did he get bit? Yes, Sam, I'm afraid he did. We got him to the doctor right away, though, and I'm pretty sure he'll be all right. Was anyone else hurt? No, just Mr. Cobb. I'm glad it wasn't any worse than that. I sure was worried. Where's the bag of snakes now? Well, when Mr. Cobb opened the sack and got bit on the hand, he spilled all the snakes out of the bag. I knew that with the sun shining on them, they'd warm up soon and get more active. So I just threw that tarp over there and weighed it down with those fence posts. There they are, right over there. You did that all by yourself, Jack? Weren't you scared? You bet I was scared. For a while there, I was really shaking in my shoes. Then I asked the Lord to help me, and he sure did. Hey, look, here come Bill and Stumpy. Everything all right here? Everything's under control thanks to Jack here. Some are other. He managed to get the rattlers pinned under that tarp. Looks as though God answered your prayers after all. Yep. I don't mind telling you that I felt mighty bad about losing that sack. I sure didn't want anyone to get hurt because of a stupid mistake I made. So Danny prayed all the way back here that God would protect you folks and not he pine from the snakes. I've been mistaken about some other things, too. I was talking big to Jack the other day, making like I was so tough and so strong that I didn't need religion. I told him that stuff was for women and little kids. But I've been watching all you guys and I can see that that ain't true. It ain't true at all. You fellas, all are Christians. And I ain't ever seen a bunch of braver men. I've done a lot of bad things in my life. But I want to have what you fellas have. If you think God would want an old sinner like me. He sure does want you, Sam. He says in his word, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. You've already taken the first step in coming to him. You've admitted that you're a sinner and you need a savior. Now, if you'll just ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart, he'll wash your sins away and make you a Christian. I'm gonna do it, Bill. I'm gonna do it right now. Hey, Danny, you think your mom's gonna be happy when she finds out what happened? She sure is, Dad. I think she'll say it's an answer to her prayers. How about you boys and girls? If you've never accepted Christ as your savior, won't you do it today? Stumpy and Jack and I, yes, and Sam and Danny Smith, will all tell you it'll mean the start of a new life, a wonderful new life in Christ. Well, see you again next week for more adventure with... Ranger Bill is produced in the radio studios of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. This is a Moody radio network production.