EDUCATING AN ALLIGATOR
The boys wished to explore the Whitewater Bay country, and spent
several days following to their sources streams that led in that
direction, until satisfied that no stream connected the two regions.
Returning to Tussock Bay, they crossed it and entered a branch of
Shark River, which led to Little Whitewater Bay. As they neared the
bay a loggerhead turtle rose near them and Dick wanted to hunt it.
"We need the meat," said he. "We can smoke it and then it is as good
as jerked venison."
"We haven't time to smoke it. We are in a salt-water country with
only two or three days' supply of fresh water. We may not find any
more for a week. We've just got to keep moving. I wish we had a keg
of water. If we were to spill what we've got in that canoe we would
have to hike in a hurry, back to the Glades or some other place
where we knew there was fresh water."
On the eastern side of Little Whitewater Bay, the boys found a
straight and narrow creek which led to Whitewater Bay. Paddling for
six miles, east-southeast, across the bay, they were fortunate
enough to strike the narrow mouth of what soon proved to be a broad
river. They paddled long and late without Finding the fresh water
they looked for, and camped on ground so wet that they had to cut
branches to sleep on. As they kept on in the morning, the river they
followed forked and they took the deeper branch. This in turn split
in two and again they followed the deeper branch. Near the close of
a day of hard work the stream they were following opened out on a
beautiful park-like prairie, while beside the canoe was an ideal
camping site fitted by Nature to that end.
It was a circular bit of high ground, surrounded by big trees whose
spreading branches, draped in moss, shaded it on all sides, while an
immense growth of wild grape-vine canopied it overhead. The water
that flowed past the camp was pure and sweet, fresh from the
Everglades. There was heavy timber about the camp and more than once
during the night the boys heard the tread of a wild animal. Once it
seemed to be the step of a deer in shallow water near the camp, then
it was the soft footfall of some catlike animal and when Ned raised
himself on his elbow to listen to a heavier tread, the "_wouf_" of
the startled beast told that Bruin had caught the offensive scent of
the white man's camp. As the boys lay awake and talked while they
watched the stars peeping through the canopy of vines above them,
they heard the distant bellowing of a Bull alligator.
"Dick," said Ned, "do you s'pose we could find that 'gator? He must
be fifteen feet long, from the noise he makes. I'd like mighty well
to rope him. We could stake him out so he'd never, never get away
and he would live for weeks if it took us that long to get him
carried to Fort Myers. Dad would sure be delighted and pay all the
bills like a major."
"Don't you think he'd throw in new rifles with silver plates and our
names on 'em?"
"He sure would."
"Well, we haven't got the big alligator yet, but we'll hunt for him
to-morrow."
Just as Dick spoke the distant report of a gun was heard.
"There goes your fifteen-foot alligator and both of our new rifles
with silver plates and our names on them. Good-night."
The boys started out across the meadow in the morning on the hunt
for the big 'gator. They carried a rope for the 'gator and Ned took
his rifle to be ready for the bear that spoke to them in the night.
There was no more danger of their losing their camp, for Ned had
made a chart every night, of their course during the day, until his
memory had learned to map every scene his eyes looked upon. As they
crossed a bit of wooded swamp, they heard the step of some heavy
animal in a jungle near them, but they could get no sight of the
creature and the slushy mud through which it had waded left no
prints that inexperienced eyes could read. They found little ponds
from which small 'gators rose to their calls, but none of a size
worth thinking of. They saw one big alligator sunning itself on a
dry bank, and spent an hour in creeping near it only to find that it
was not over ten feet long. As it grew late and they turned
homeward, Dick said:
"Ever since that otter of yours died I've wanted a pet in camp. We
need one for a watchdog. 'Most any night we might be eaten up for
want of one. Let's take home a young alligator and I'll train it.
These ponds are full of 'em."
"I don't want you to go wading in any more ponds, Dick."
"That's all right. Don't have to. There are 'gator caves all round
these ponds. You find one of 'em and I'll do the rest."
The boys hunted around several ponds till Ned found a hole in the
bank of one, just under the surface of the water. Dick handed Ned a
pole, which he had cut in the last bit of woods they had passed, and
then made a noose on the end of the harpoon line which he carried.
He arranged the noose around the hole in the bank and stood a little
back of it holding the line in his hands.
"Now, Ned, just poke that pole down in the mud, all around, about
fifteen feet back of this hole, and pretty soon you'll punch
something. Then, you'll see fun."
Ned poked around in the soft ground for awhile, then:
"Look out, Dick! Something is wiggling."
"I'm all here. Let her come!"
Out came the reptile's head from the cave, straight through the
noose which tightened around the alligator's neck, as Dick threw his
weight back on the line. At first it tried to back into the cave,
but the line held it. Then it plunged into the pond, but Dick soon
yanked it out on the prairie. It scuttled over the prairie like a
great lizard and when the boy jerked it back it ran toward him, but
he side-stepped quickly out of reach of that open mouth. When the
reptile became a little quiet, Dick dragged it to the pole which Ned
had left sticking in the ground and walking twice around it had the
alligator's head fast to the pole. Then stepping quickly up to the
creature he seized it by the head, holding its jaws firmly together
with both hands.
[Illustration: "OUT CAME THE REPTILE'S HEAD FROM THE CAVE"]
"Now, Ned, if you'll tie these jaws together, he'll be gentle as a
lamb and we'll have a real pet that won't get away like a manatee or
die like an otter."
"I'll tie it, and bully for you, Dick, boy! You did that in great
shape. I shouldn't wonder if it made a pretty good pet, and I don't
care how big its mouth is, it couldn't have a bigger bite than that
otter of ours."
The 'gator was less than five feet long and quite babyish in its
ways, but it gave Dick a lot of trouble as he was leading it toward
their camp.
"Just boost him up on my back, Ned. He's only a baby and wants to
be toted."
Ned found it a pretty vigorous baby when he tried to boost it and he
got some spanks from its tail that made him think of his tarpon of a
few days before. Finally Ned stood in front of his companion, and
with his help the reptile was dragged up Dick's back with its
forepaws on his shoulder. Dick hung onto the paws, in spite of the
sloshing about of his pet's tail for about a quarter of a mile, when
he dumped it on the ground and addressing it, said:
"There! You uneasy little cuss, you've got to walk. I don't mind
your wiggling your tail, but you tickle my ribs with your hind claws
and you pound my head with your hard old jaws. Now come along
straight, or instead of being toted you'll get a lickin'."
When they reached camp Dick staked the pet out with a line long
enough to let it get into the river when it chose. He took the rope
from its jaws, leaving them free, and the 'gator never took
advantage of it by trying to bite. At first the pet got very much
excited when he was dragged out of the water and up on land, but
after awhile he got used to it and seemed to almost enjoy it. Dick
caught fish for his pet which always refused to eat them. Then Dick
cut the fish in pieces and while Ned held the little 'gator, stuffed
them in its mouth and then held its jaws together till it swallowed
its food.
"See the baby 'gator sit up, Ned," said Dick one day, after he had
been training it for some time. "I'll have him eating with a fork
and drinking from a cup in a week."
[Illustration: "SEE THE BABY 'GATOR SIT UP, NED!"]