Mass' George

"Only a squirrel," I said, at a guess. "I think I shall go and have a bathe."

"Where?" said Morgan; "not in the river; the stream is too swift, sir, yet."

"No; in our big pool."

"Better take a pole and prod about well first. After all this water there may be a young alligator or two crept in."

"Oh, I'm not afraid of them," I said, laughing; and I listened again, for there was another faint rustle among the leaves, but it ceased, and I stood watching as Morgan tied up two or three of the great succulent vine-shoots which were trailing over one of the trees, luxuriating in the glowing suns.h.i.+ne, and showing goodly-sized bunches of grapes, such as would in another two months be so many little amber bags of luscious sweetness.

"Yes, I haven't had a swim since the flood," I thought to myself, as I went on, leaped over the rough, moss-grown fence, and was soon after making my way along past the edge of the sugar-cane plantation, where the weeds were growing like mad, and then through the great, tall-leaved rows of tobacco in the new clearing, where the stumps of the trees so laboriously cut down still stood.

In another ten minutes I was out of the glowing suns.h.i.+ne beneath the oaks with their flowing drapery of moss, now peering up to see if anything alive was moving among the branches, now noticing how far up the flood had risen, as shown by the mark of dried mud and the patches of withered reed, which still clung here and there.

But there was no sign of living thing, and I walked on for a time in and out among the great trunks in the deep shade towards where there was a broad patch of suns.h.i.+ne, and all therein looked to be of green and gold.

It was the clearing where the trees had been cut down for building and fencing when we first came.

I was not long in placing myself upon a stump out here in the broad suns.h.i.+ne, to watch what was going on, for this was a favourite old place of mine, where I generally found something to interest me.

So it was on this day, for a great crane flew up and went off with a great deal of wing-flapping before it was clear of the trees; and as I was eagerly watching the spot where it had disappeared, there was one bright flash, and one only, as a humming-bird darted across the sunny clearing, to poise itself first here and then there, before the open flowers of the great creepers, its wings vibrating so rapidly that they were invisible, and the lovely little creature looked more like some great moth than a bird.

I knew him and his kind well enough, and that if I had had it in my hand, I should have seen his head and crest all of a bright ruby tint, and the scale-like feathers of its throat glowing almost like fire; but as it flew rapidly here and there, it seemed all of a dull, warm brown, surrounded by a transparency formed by its rapidly-beating wings.

I sat watching the humming-bird till another and another came to disturb the first, and begin chasing it, darting here and there like dragon-flies, now up, and now down; round and round, and sometimes coming so close that I could have beaten one to the ground with a bough.

Then, all at once, they soared up and up, pa.s.sed over the trees, and were gone, leaving me swinging my legs and whistling softly, as my eyes now wandered about in search of something else.

Oaks draped with moss, a great cypress at the edge of the clearing, which had grown up and up till it was higher than some of the trees, and spread its boughs over them like an umbrella to keep off the rain, and keeping off the suns.h.i.+ne as well, so that they had grown up so many tall, thin trunks, with tops quite hidden by the dark green cypress, and looking like upright props to keep its great top spread.

I knew that in all probability there was more than one 'possum in the great trees surrounding the opening, but Pomp was not there to find them, and I had no dog. I felt, too, that in all probability more than one bright pair of eyes were watching me from some bough, and their owners' bushy tails twitching and whisking about; but I could see nothing, and after a time, as a sudden thought struck me, I got down softly, and looked round for a stick. This was soon found, for whenever I cut one I generally left it thrust in somewhere among the dense growth.

Thus armed, I went cautiously across the clearing toward the farther side, where the gravelly bank was crowned by a tuft of pines, beneath which, in the full suns.h.i.+ne, the ground was almost bare, and dotted with stones, ashy, and dark, and dull, and grey.

I had committed more than one murder there, but they were murders in which I exulted, for they meant death to the horrible rattlesnake or deadly moccasin, as they lay sunning their cold blood in the hot rays, ready to deal death to the pa.s.ser-by, whose inadvertent foot should disturb their sleep.

I went very cautiously, with my eyes scanning the spot eagerly, for at very little distance the reptiles would be invisible from the way in which their scales a.s.similated with the earth. But, though I used every caution, I saw no wavy or coiled up serpent asleep,

"Getting scarcer," I said to myself, as I turned off again, and made for a faint track between the trees--a seldom-used path, leading on to the edge of the swamp that bordered the little river running down to the great tidal stream, which came from far away to the north-west among the mountains.

For a time, as I went on peering here and there, I forgot all about my first intention, but it came back strongly as I reached a natural opening, and once more pa.s.sed out of the shade, which seemed streaked with threads of silver where the sun-rays darted through, and stood looking down at the broad, glistening, shallow pool, where we boys had often bathed.

The place looked beautiful as ever; the water wonderfully clear. Small fish darted away at my approach, and took refuge in the reeds and gra.s.s at the side, or in the broad patch of water-growth in one corner some twenty yards across.

There was the dead tree on my side of the pool, which was about sixty yards in length, and looked as tempting a spot for a bath as can be imagined.

The heat was growing oppressive, but the air was beautifully pure and clear; and the insects which darted about flashed in the suns.h.i.+ne, and kept up a continuous hum that was soothing and pleasant, as I began to take off my clothes, enjoying the sensation of the hot sun pouring its heat down upon my skin.

"I wish Pomp was here," I said to myself; and as I said those words, I burst out into a hearty fit of laughter, as in imagination I saw his black face s.h.i.+ning in the water, and the great drops standing like pearls in his woolly head.

My thoughts did not promise him much enjoyment in his bath, for divers ideas connected with ducking, splas.h.i.+ng, and the like occurred to me, the more forcibly from the fact, that though Pomp swam admirably, it was after the fas.h.i.+on of a duck, and not of a fish, for he never, if he could possibly help it, put his head under water.

I was half undressed, when I caught a glimpse of a good-sized pike, slowly rising to the surface to bask, and stooping down, and picking up the stick I had brought with me--a good stout piece of hickory nearly six feet long--I drew back a little, stole gently along the edge of the pool till I deemed myself about opposite, and then raising the stick with both hands, stole forward, to deal a heavy blow at the fish, trusting that if I missed it the stroke on the water might paralyse it, until I had had time to hook it ash.o.r.e.

"Don't see why a crack with a stick should not do as well as an alligator's tail," I said to myself.

That blow was not delivered, for before I could gather myself up and bring my muscles to bear, the water flashed as a little wave rose, and the fish was far out of reach.

"Better luck next time," I said, as I went back to the tree, finished undressing, stood for a moment or two on the edge of the pool, and then dived in, sending the water flying up sparkling in the light.

It was deliciously invigorating, though the water was too much warmed by the sun to give me a swift electric shock; and as I rose to the surface, shook the drops from my eyes, and began to swim slowly along, I felt as if I had never enjoyed a bath so well before. For the water felt soft, and yielding, and elastic, and as if no effort was required to keep myself afloat.

"Pity old Pomp isn't here," I said, as I lazily swam to one end, where there were tufts of water weeds, and a kind of natural ditch took off the surplus water into a pool of similar size, a hundred yards away among the trees--a black-looking, overhung place, suggestive of reptiles, and depth, and dead tree-trunks with snaggy boughs ready to remove a swimmer's skin, though possibly if the trees had all been cleared away, and the bright suns.h.i.+ne had flooded it with light, it might have looked attractive enough.

As it was, I should have thought it madness to venture into such a spot, not knowing what danger might lurk therein, and I turned and swam back toward the other end, but stopped in the middle opposite my clothes lying on the fallen tree, and turned over to float and gaze up at the blue sky and the glorious hues of green upon the trees which surrounded the pool.

"I wonder where Pomp is," I said to myself, and then, satisfied that if he saw Morgan he would learn where I had gone, and follow, I turned over on my breast and began to swim lazily toward the end where the reeds grew.

"I dare say all the fish have taken refuge in there," I said to myself.

"If one had a net to spread round, and then send Pomp in there with a pole to beat and thrash about, one might get, a good haul."

I swam on, driven by I don't know what attraction toward the great patch of reeds standing up out of the clear water, when all at once Morgan's words concerning alligators came to my mind, and for a moment I hesitated and ceased swimming, gazing straight before me at the large patch of aquatic growth, and then at another, a dozen yards away to my right.

"They'd only he little ones and scuttle off as hard as they could," I thought directly, and continued swimming toward the great patch before me, when, just as I was about a dozen feet from the thickest part, I felt a chill of horror run through me, paralysing every nerve, and my lips parted to utter a cry, for the reeds were suddenly agitated as by the pa.s.sage of something forcing its way out, and to my horror the hideous open-mouthed snout of a great alligator was thrust forth, and from its wide jaws there came a horrible bellowing roar which sounded to me at the moment as if the monster had uttered the word _Houk_!

I could not for the moment stir nor utter a cry for help. Then as the reeds were more roughly agitated, and I saw that the brute was struggling out from the tangle of matted roots below the surface, I threw myself back, and splas.h.i.+ng and beating the water with all my might to scare the reptile, I made for the sh.o.r.e.

The distance was only short, but to me then it seemed interminable.

I had only glanced over my shoulder once, to see that the alligator was in full pursuit, with its open jaws well above the surface, and evidently gaining upon me fast, as I tore through the water, sending all I could back over the monster's muzzle; but in those agonised moments all seemed in vain, as in imagination I felt myself seized, dragged under, and drowned.

The thought was far too horrible to bear; and, in spite of myself, I felt that I must turn round and face the brute, to make one brave struggle for life, and not let it seize me by the leg and drag me down, when just as I was about to yield to this feeling, and in the act of turning, my horror culminated, for there was a rush, and a great wave of water rose from the open patch of reeds on my left, and I knew that a second enemy had rushed out from its lair and was making for me.

I uttered a hoa.r.s.e gasp, and began swimming again toward the sh.o.r.e, when once more a strange sensation ran through me, mingled of horror, despair, and wonder, as I heard in a hoa.r.s.e, hollow voice I well knew, though it sounded strange--

"Oh, oh, Ma.s.s' George! Help! Great 'gator, Ma.s.s' George--help!"

The cry did not come from the bank, nor from among the trees, but from close behind me where the first alligator was in full pursuit, and as I once more ceased swimming, paralysed by wonder, I saw my first pursuer rise up in a peculiar way in the water, raise its two black paws to its head, take it off, and dash it at the second alligator, which seized it on the instant, a second head appearing just above the surface, closing upon the first with a snap, and then there was a tremendous swirl in the water, a tail appeared above the surface as the brute dived down, and as I swam on panting, the surface of the water behind grew calm.

But I was not swimming alone. Pomp's black head was close by me, and his voice rose in a sobbing howl as, s.h.i.+vering with horror, he kept on--

"Oh, swim fa.s.s, Ma.s.s' George; swim fa.s.s, Ma.s.s' George, 'fore de 'gator catch us. Oh, swim fa.s.s, Ma.s.s' George; swim fa.s.s, Ma.s.s' George! 'Fore de 'gator catch us," till we reached the sh.o.r.e and scrambled out, white and black, in the blazing sun, the water streaming down us, and both panting hard and trembling in every limb.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

"Oh--ho--ho--ho--ho! What a lubbly bit fun!" cried Pomp, as soon as the danger had pa.s.sed away.

"Why, Pomp!" I cried at last, fiercely, for I was too much astonished to speak at first.

But he was off along the bank, to stop opposite the smaller batch of reeds, where he stood with both his fists doubled, stamping his bare feet, and shouting a perfect torrent of abuse at the invisible enemy.