_ CHAPTER EIGHT.
"There," said Morgan, one day, as he gave the soil a final pat with his spade, "that job's done, and now I'm going to have a bit of a rest. Leaving-off time till the sun gets a bit down."
"What have you been planting?" I asked.
"Seeds, my lad; flower seeds, as I've picked myself. I like to keep raising the useful things, but we may as well have some bright flowers too. Where's the master?"
"Indoors, writing."
"Then what do you say to a bit of sport?"
"Another rattlesnake?" I cried.
"No, thank ye, my lad; meddling with rattlesnakes may mean bringing down the Indians, so we'll let them alone."
"Nonsense!"
"Well, perhaps it is, my lad."
"But what have you found?"
"What do you say to a 'coon?"
"Oh, they get into the hollow trees, where you can't catch them."
"Well then, a bear?"
"A bear!" I cried; "a real wild bear?"
"Ah, I thought that would set you off; but it arn't a bear; they're up among the hills."
"What is it then? How you do hang back from telling!"
"Course I do. If I let you have it all at once, you wouldn't enjoy it half so much."
"Oh, I know," I cried, "it's going to fish after those ridiculous little terrapins, and they're such horrid things to take off the hook."
"Guess again."
"Birds? An eagle?"
"No; guess again, nearly right; something as lays eggs--"
"A turtle?"
Morgan shook his head.
"Not an alligator, is it?"
He wrinkled up his face in a hearty laugh.
"Alligator it is, sir. I found a nest yesterday."
"And didn't tell me. I want to see an alligator's nest. I never could find one."
"Ah, you didn't look in the right kind of tree, Master George."
"Don't talk to me as if I were a baby, Morgan," I said; "just as if I didn't know better than that."
"Oh, but you don't know everything. I got awfully laughed at once for saying squirrels build nests in trees."
"Oh, but they do," I said; "I've seen them."
"'Course you have; but when I said so, some one laughed, and asked how many eggs you can find in a squirrel's nest.--So you don't believe the 'gators build in trees, don't you?"
"No; but I believe they lay eggs. How many are there in this?"
"Oh, it isn't that sort of nest. I mean a nest where he goes to sleep in; and you and me's going to wake him up, and try if we can't catch him and bring him home."
I could not help thinking of the Indians, as I went with Morgan to make the preparations, which were simple enough, and consisted in arming himself with a long pole and giving me one similar, after which he put a piece of rope in his pocket, and declared himself ready.
We went off in the same direction as that chosen when we killed the rattlesnake, but turned off to the left directly, and made for the bank of the river, that bore away from the landing-place, towards a low, moist part, intersected by the meandering stream which drained the marshy part.
Here we had to proceed rather cautiously, for the place was full of decayed trees covered with brilliant green and grey moss, and looking solid, but which crumbled away at a touch from the foot, and often concealed holes into which it would have been awkward to fall, since we did not know what kind of creatures lived therein.
"Seem to have lost the place," said Morgan, after we had been going along for some time pretty well parallel with the river.
"Oh, Morgan!" I exclaimed, impatiently.
"No; I have it," he cried. "I remember that tree with the long moss hanging down so far. The ground's harder here too. More to the left, Master George. There you are at last."
"But where's the nest?" I said.
"Why, there it is, my lad; can't you see?"
I looked round, but there was nothing visible but a few footprints in a muddy spot, and a hole of very moderate size, evidently going some distance down into the moist, boggy soil.
"Is this it?"
"Yes, of course."
"But you said a nest."
"Well, I meant, as I told you, his nest, his snuggery. Now I'm going to see if he's at home."
I looked on full of doubt, for the whole proceeding seemed to me to be very absurd, and I felt sure that Morgan was mistaken.
"I don't believe he knows any more about alligators than I do," I said to myself, as I saw him thrust the long pole down into the hole.
"I tried this game on yesterday, Master George, and he said he was at home."
"Nonsense!" I cried, pettishly.
"But I'm afraid he has gone out for a walk this time, and it's a case of call again to-morrow. No," he added, energetically, "it's all right. Says he's at home."
"Why, what do you mean?" I cried.
"Got a bite," said Morgan, grinning. "You try. But mind he don't come out with a rush. He might be nasty."
I hesitated for a moment, then leaning my own pole against a bush, I took hold of the one Morgan gave into my hands, and moved it slightly.
"Well?" I said. "I don't feel anything."
"Give it a bit of a stir round, my lad," he said.
I moved the pole a little, and then jumped and let go.
"What's the matter?" cried Morgan, laughing.
"Something bit the pole, and made it jar right up my arm."
"That's him. I told you he was at home. Now then, you aren't afraid, are you?"
"Not a big one, is it?"
"No, not very; only tidy size; but we shall see if we get him out."
I looked rather aghast at Morgan, for the idea of getting a large alligator out there in the marshy place, and both of us unarmed, was rather startling.
"Now then, give him a good stir up."
Sooner than seem afraid, but with my heart beating heavily, I took hold of the pole, and gave it a good shake, and left go again, for it seemed as if some one had given it a good rap with a heavy stick, and a jarring sensation ran up my arm.
"No mistake about it this time," said Morgan, grinning. "Puts me in mind of sniggling for eels, and pushing a worm at the end of a willow-stick up an eel's burrow in a muddy bank. They give it a knock like that sometimes, but of course not so hard. Well, why don't you go on?"
"Go on with what?" I cried, wishing myself well out of the whole business.
"Stirring of him up, and making him savage. But stop a moment, let's have this ready."
He took out the piece of rope, and made a large noose, laying it on some thick moss, and then turning to me again.
"Now then, my lad, give him a good stir up. Don't be afraid. Make him savage, or else he won't hold on."
With a dimly defined notion of what we were aiming at, I gave the pole a good wrench round in the hole, feeling it strike against something, and almost simultaneously feeling something strike against it.
"That's the way, sir. Give it him again."
Growing reckless now, and feeling that I must not shrink, I gave the pole another twist round, with the result that it was snatched out of my hand.
"He has it," cried Morgan, excitedly. "Feel if he has got it fast, Master George."
I took hold of the pole, gazing down with no little trepidation, in the expectation of at any moment seeing some hideous monster rush out, ready to seize and devour me.
But there was no response to my touch, the pole coming loosely into my hand.
"Give him another stir up, Master George. They tell me that's the way they do it to make them savage."
"But do we want to make the creature savage?" I said.
"Course we do! There, you do as I tell you, my lad, and you'll see."
I gave the pole a good poke round in the hole again, just as if I was stirring up something in a huge pot, when almost before I had gone right round--_Whang_! The pole quivered in my hand, and a thrill ran through me as in imagination I saw a monstrous beast seize the end of the stick in its teeth and give it a savage shake.
"Hurrah!" cried Morgan. "He has got it tight now. That's right, Master George; let me come. We'll soon haul him out."
"No, no," I said, as excited now as the Welshman. "It may be dangerous."
"We'll dangerous him, my lad."
"But he may bite."
"Well, let him. 'Gators' bites arn't poisonous, like snakes. I should just like to see him bite."
"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 fishing 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 I perforce followed with him, and the next moment we were dragging a great alligator through the wet moss and black mud, the creature making very little resistance, for it was on its back, this being the result of Morgan's last movement when he dragged the pole across the hole.
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 pass 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 passing 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 Carnarvonshire 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 hoarsely.
"Well, what of it? This is 'gator country. Rattlesnakes, they tell me, likes the high, dry, hot, stony places."
"Yes--father said so," I replied in a whisper, as I looked cautiously round.
"Well then, what are you looking for?"
"Indians," I whispered, for I had recalled how the savages had surrounded us while our attention was taken up by the last noxious creature we had attacked.
At my words Morgan made a bound, and then began to move past a tree. But he stopped short, and returned to my side, looking wildly round the while.
"See 'em--see any of 'em?" he whispered.
"No; but suppose they have stolen upon us again as they did before!"
"Yah! What do you mean by frightening a man? I teclare to cootness it's too bad of you, Master George."
I smiled once more, for Morgan's speech had sounded very droll and Welsh, as it often was when he grew excited.
"You tit it to scare me," he said, angrily.
"Indeed, no."
"Yes, inteet," he said; "and look you--I say, Master George, was it meant for a choke?"
"Indeed, no, Morgan; I really felt startled."
"Then it's all right," he said. "There's none of 'em here, so let's get home."
"But what are you going to do with the alligator?"
"Eh? Oh, I never thought of that. I wanted to catch him so that you might have a bit of fun."
"But now we have caught him?"
"Well, dunno, my lad. Might take him home and chain him up. Turn down a barrel to make him a kennel; he can bark."
"Oh, nonsense! We can't do that."
"He's no good to eat, though they say the savages eat 'em. Here, I know; let's take him home, and ask master what's to be done with him."
"Take him home?" I faltered.
"Ay, to be sure. I'll lead him by the string, and you can come behind and give him a poke with the pole when he won't go. Ought by rights to have two ropes, like they do at home with a vicious cow; then when he ran at me, you could pull; and when he ran at you, I could pull him back."
"But we haven't two ropes. That isn't long enough to cut, and I can't stop him if he runs at you."
"Might pull his tail," said Morgan.
"Ugh!" I ejaculated, as I recalled the use the creature could make of it, giving blows that I knew would knock me off my feet.
"Well then, I tell you what; let's leave him tied up as he is, and get back. The master will be wondering where we are, and fancying all sorts of trouble."
"Seems cruel," I said. "The creature will be strangled."
"Not he. If he does, he'll strangle himself. I never feel very merciful to things that go about doing all the harm they can as long as they live. Say, shall I kill him at once?"
"No; let's leave him, and see what my father says."
Morgan examined the knot he had made, and then started away, for the reptile made a lash at him with its tail, and in retort he took out his big-bladed knife, opened it, and held it out threateningly.
"It's all very well, look you," he said; "but if you'd hit me with that tail of yours, I'd have had it off as sure as you're alive."
It was Morgan's farewell to the alligator as we turned off with our poles, broken and sound, and hurried back to find my father with a gun over his arm, fast coming in search of us. _