A TERRIBLE MOMENT
All three boys jumped for safety, but Fred’s ankle turned in the soft
sand, and he fell, striking his head against a stone as he went down.
Stunned, he lay an easy prey for the alligator, that made for him with
all the speed of which it was capable.
For a brief second Bobby and Lee stood rooted in their tracks, appalled
at the horrible menace to their friend. Then, quick as a flash, Bobby
leaped toward the ugly monster, picking up the stick Lee had been using
for hunting eggs.
The alligator was not ten feet from Fred when Bobby leaped in front of
it, and using the stick as a club, dealt the ferocious brute a stinging
blow on the end of its snout. The vicious little eyes blinked, but the
monster did not stop. Again Bobby struck, with all the strength of his
sinewy young arm. The great jaws snapped wickedly, but the alligator
could not stand this severe pain in the only sensitive part of his
anatomy, and it stopped a moment, glaring at this presumptuous human who
looked so small and yet could hurt so much. Following up his advantage,
Bobby struck again, and at the same second Lee dashed in and, exerting
all his strength, lifted Fred in his arms and staggered off with him.
The alligator, infuriated at being thus deprived of its prey, made a
wild lunge at Bobby, who tried to land another effective blow on the
sensitive snout. But this time he missed, and the big reptile caught the
stick in its jaws, snapping it to splinters. Bobby was thrown off his
balance and nearly followed the stick, but recovered his poise just in
time, for the alligator turned with surprising agility and slashed at
him with its heavy tail. Had that deadly blow reached its mark Bobby’s
career would have ended. He could not recover his balance in time to
run, but as the powerful tail whizzed toward him he seized the only
chance left him, and leaped clear over it. The alligator never got
another chance at him, for when he landed he was off like a shot after
his chums. The alligator followed him for a few steps, but apparently
saw that it was hopeless to try to catch him, and turning, dragged
itself down to the water, which it entered with a sullen splash.
Bobby, seeing this over his shoulder, slowed down and called to Lee, who
laid Fred on the ground and started trying to revive him. By the time
Bobby arrived Fred had opened his eyes, and now, with Lee’s help, he
made shift to sit up.
“What happened to me?” he inquired, feebly.
“Not near as much as almost happened to you,” said Bobby. “You came
pretty near waking up inside an alligator. But how do you feel now,
Fred?” and he knelt beside his chum to examine a bad looking cut just
over his temple.
“Oh, a little dizzy but I guess I can still sit up and take notice,”
said Fred, with a weak grin. “I remember falling now, and I suppose I
must have knocked my head on something. What happened after that?”
“Oh, nothing much,” said Bobby. “I took the alligator’s attention off
you, and Lee toted you away to a safer place than the neighborhood of
that nest. I’ve got an idea that must have been the owner of those eggs
that attacked us.”
“The way you tell it, it doesn’t seem like much, but I’ve got an idea
you and Lee saved my life,” said Fred.
“Oh well, we only did what you would have done for either of us if we
had been down and out,” said Bobby, “so let’s forget about it. The worst
part of it is we’re as far as ever from having alligator egg omelet.”
“Well, let’s go back and get them, then,” said Fred coolly, getting to
his feet. “My head still feels a little funny, but anyway I can keep a
look-out, while you two get the eggs. We won’t be caught napping this
time, and I guess we can run faster than any ’gator.”
“I like your nerve, anyway!” exclaimed Lee, “Here you’ve been within an
ace of being gobbled up by that ugly brute, and still you want to go
back and have another try at her precious eggs. Likely enough she’ll get
you for good this time.”
“I’m game to try it, anyway,” said Bobby. “But I don’t think you’d
better come, Fred. That was a pretty bad crack you got, and you’d better
wait here while we try it.”
“Not a bit of it,” protested Fred. “I feel all right now, and I’m going
to have alligator eggs for supper if I have to go for them alone.”
“All right then, back we go,” said Bobby, and the three boys retraced
their steps to where they had all three narrowly escaped death only a
few minutes before. When they arrived, there was no sign of the
alligator, however, and it did not take them long to uncover the eggs.
There was a large number of them, each one about the size and shape of a
large goose egg, and the boys took off their coats and wrapped as many
of the eggs as they could carry in them. But they took no chances of
being surprised this time, and kept a sharp look-out. And it was well
they did, for they had no more than got the eggs wrapped up than Lee
gave a shout of warning.
“Here she comes, fellows!” he yelled, “let’s go!”
The boys needed no second admonition, but after a startled glance, took
to their heels in most earnest fashion. For sure enough, the mother
alligator, after cooling her smarting nose in the water, had had an
uneasy feeling that all was not well, and had started up the bank to
investigate. When she caught sight of the boys she gave a bellow and
dragged herself through the sand at increased speed, but the boys did
not wait for her coming this time, and were soon at a safe distance.
“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby, slowing down. “It’s a lucky thing that
alligators can’t run fast. If they could, I guess we’d have to live in
trees.”
“They’re slow enough on land, but you ought to see them in the water,”
returned Lee. “They can go fast enough then, believe me.”
“I’ll believe you right away, without putting it to a test,” laughed
Fred. “An alligator’s mouth seems too full of teeth to suit me.”
“Yes, they have got a pretty complete outfit,” said Lee, “and they keep
growing in all the time, the new ones forcing out the old. I’ve heard
that a ’gator has four or five sets of teeth during a lifetime.”
“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby. “I should think one set like that would last any
animal a lifetime.”
“Yes, but they often break them taking bites out of people who try to
steal their eggs,” said Lee. “It must hurt the poor alligators when they
break a tooth that way.”
“That’s the only reason I ran so fast,” said Fred. “I wasn’t afraid of
the alligator, but I didn’t want the poor thing to hurt its teeth on
me.”
“Oh, we believe that,” said Lee sarcastically.
“Well, if you believe that, you’ll believe anything,” said Fred
brazenly. “I’ll have to think up something real good next time.”
“I don’t mind telling you fellows the real reason why I ran, if you coax
me,” declared Bobby.
“I’ll bite,” said Lee. “Why did you run?”
“Because I couldn’t fly,” replied Bobby.