Mass' George

"I shouldn't," I said, mentally, as Morgan pushed me a little on one side, and took hold of the pole.

"Now then, don't you be scared; I'll tackle him if he's vicious. Both pull together. He's so vexed now that he won't leave go if his teeth 'll hold."

"No," I said, setting my own teeth fast, but not in the pole. "Am I to pull?"

"To be sure. Both pull together. It's like fis.h.i.+ng with a wooden line.

Now then, haul away!"

There was a length of about ten feet of the pole down in the hole as we took hold together and began to haul, feeling something very heavy at the end, which came up in a sullen, unresisting way for some distance, giving me courage and making me nearly as eager and excited as our man.

"That's the way, sir. We'll soon--Hi! Hold tight! Wo--ho, there; wo-- ho! Ah!"

For all at once the creature began to struggle furiously, shaking the pole so that we dragged at it with all our might; and then--_Whoosh_!

The alligator left go, and we went backward on the soft mossy earth.

"I _am_ glad!" I thought, as we struggled up.

"There, Master George, what d'yer think o' that? Can't have such games as this at home in the old country, eh?"

"No," I said. "But you're not going to try again, are you?"

"Not going to try again? I should think I am, till I get the great ugly creature here at the top. Why, you're not skeart of him, are you?"

"Wait till he's out, and then we'll see," I replied, as I thrust the pole down again, giving it a fierce twist, and felt it seized once more.

"That's the way. This is a bit of the finest sport I ever had, and it's just dangerous enough to make it exciting. Haul away, my lad."

I set my teeth and hauled, the reptile coming up quickly enough half-way, and then beginning to writhe and shake its head furiously, every movement being communicated to our arms, and giving us a good notion of the strength of the enemy we were fighting, if fighting it could be called. Up we drew it inch by inch, and I must confess that with every change of the position of my hands I hoped it would be the last, that the creature would leave go, and drop back into the hole, and that Morgan would be so disappointed that he would not try any more.

That is just how I felt, and yet, odd as it may sound, it is not as I felt, for mingled with that series of thoughts--just as a change of position shows another set of colours on a bird's back or in a piece of silk--there was another, in which I was hoping the alligator would hold on tightly, so that we might get it right out of the hole, and I could attack and kill it with the pole, so that I could show Morgan and--much more important--myself that I was not afraid to behave as boldly as the man who had hold with his hands touching mine.

My last ideas were gratified, for as we hauled together there was another savage shaking of the pole, which quivered in our grasp; then a strong drag or two, and we knew by the length of the pole that we must have the reptile within a yard of the surface, when Morgan looked down where a bright gleam of the sunlight shot from above.

"All right, Master George," he cried; "this way--over with you!" and setting the example, he dragged the pole over in the opposite direction to that in which we had it bent, when

The shape of the reptile's head and back made our task the more easy, and we had run with it a good fifty feet before it recovered from its surprise, loosened its hold of the pole, and began to writhe and thrash about with its tail as it twisted itself over into its proper position, in a way that was startling.

"Now, Master George, we've got him. I'll keep him from running back into his hole; you go and get the rope."

I could not stir for a few moments, but stood watching, as I saw Morgan raise up the pole, and bring it down bang across the alligator's back, but without doing it the slightest injury, for the end struck a half-rotten log, and the pole snapped off a yard above Morgan's hands.

"Never mind! I'll keep him back," roared Morgan, as the reptile kept facing him, and half turning to strike at him with its tail. "Quick, lad! The rope--the rope!"

I started off at once, and picked up the rope with its noose all ready, and then seized my pole as well, too much excited now to think of being afraid. Then I trotted back to Morgan just as he was having a fierce fight with the creature, which kept on snapping and turning at him in a way that, to say the least, was alarming.

"Ah, would you!" Morgan kept crying, as the brute snapped at him, and he presented the broken pole, upon which the reptile's teeth closed, giving the wood a savage shake which nearly wrenched it out of Morgan's hands; but he held on, and had all his work to do to avoid the tangled growth and the blows of the creature's tail.

"That's it, Master George. Now quick: drop that rope, and next time he opens his pretty mouth give him the pole. Aren't afraid of him, are you?"

I did not answer.

I did not want to answer just then, but I did exactly as I was told, dropping the rope and standing ready with my pole on one side, so as to thrust it into the brute's mouth.

I did not have long to wait for my opportunity, and it was not the alligator's fault that he did not get right hold, for through nervousness, I suppose, I thrust short, and the jaws came together with an ugly snap that was startling.

"Never mind; try again; quick, my lad, or he'll get away back to the hole."

To prevent this Morgan made a rush, and gave the brute a sounding thwack with his broken pole, sufficiently hard to make it turn in another direction, when, thoroughly excited now, I made a poke at it with the pole, and it snapped at it viciously.

I made another and another, and then the teeth closed upon the end, and the pole quivered in my grasp.

"Well done! Brave lad!" shouted Morgan, for he did not know I was all of a tremble. "That's the way; hold on, and keep him thinking about you just a moment. Pull! Let go! Pull again!"

As he gave me these directions, he got the end of the pole from me for a moment so as to pa.s.s the noose of the rope he had picked up over it, and then once more shouting to me to pull, he boldly ran the wide noose down over the pole; and as the brute saw him so near, it loosed its hold to make a fierce snap; but Morgan was too quick for the creature, and leaped away with a shout of triumph, tightening the rope, which was right round the reptile's neck, and running and pa.s.sing the other end about a tree.

"Got him now," panted Morgan, as the alligator thrashed at the rope with its tail, and tugged and strained with all its might, but of course only tightening the noose with every effort.

"Yes," I said, breathlessly, as I stood now well out of danger; "we've got him now."

"Yes, we've got him now," said Morgan again, as we made the end of the rope fast to a branch. "That would hold one twice as big. Let's see; 'bout how long is he?"

"Seven feet," I said, making a rapid guess.

"Well," said Morgan, in a slow, hesitating way; "here, hi! Keep your tail still, will you, while you're being measured."

But the reptile seemed to thrash all the harder, dragging the noose tight, and flogging at the rope in a way which promised, if time enough was given, to wear it through.

"Oh, well, if you won't, I must guess. Yes, sir, he's quite seven feet long--nearer eight; but he must be pretty young, for he's a lean, lizardly-looking brute. Not nice things to tackle, are they? Look ye here at the marks of his teeth."

As he said this, Morgan held up his broken pole, first one piece then the other. "I say, Master George, he can nip. If that had been your leg or my arm, we should have wanted a bit or two of sticking-plaster, even if we hadn't had the bone cracked in two."

"It's a horribly ugly brute," I said, as I approached it a little nearer, and examined it by the warm ruddy glow which shone down here and there into the gloomy swamp forest.

"Yes; his mother ought to be very proud of him," said Morgan, laughing; "wonder what his brothers and sisters are like. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"What are you laughing at?" I said.

"I was only thinking, Master George. The idea of me coming out of Carnarvons.h.i.+re across the sea to find things like that!"

"Yes; it's different to home," I said.

"This is home," replied Morgan, stolidly--"home now. I've set and tended many a lot of eggs; but I say, Master George, only think of a thing like that coming out of a new-laid egg. Do rattlesnakes!"

I could not help smiling at the idea, but my face felt strange, and there was a twitching about my temples as the last words fell upon my ears.

"Halloa! What's the matter, lad?"

"You--you said rattlesnakes," I whispered hoa.r.s.ely.