feet, hurling sticks and stones into the
water, the Igazipuza on the bank were endeavouring to scare off the
voracious reptiles until their comrades should be safe ashore again, and
indeed the frightful din of which they were guilty was enough to scare
the life out of every alligator between the Tugela and the Zambesi.
Gerard could stand the position no longer. Under cover of the noise,
and in the certainty that the attention of his enemies would be folly
occupied, he slipped from the recess back into his former and more open
hiding-place, and, parting the branches peered eagerly forth.

At first he could distinguish nothing. The surface of the smooth reach
gleamed like a mirror in the sunlight. Then he perceived a dark, moving
object gliding down stream, furrowing up the dazzling surface into lines
of fire, and his heart well-nigh failed him for horror and despair. In
the long bony head just showing above water, the bull-nosed snout, the
stealthy glide, he recognised the most hideous and repulsive of
reptiles, an alligator, and not a small one, either.

The brute seemed to care not overmuch for all the shouting and turmoil
on the bank. Whether it was that he knew instinctively there were no
firearms in the party, or was conscious of his superiority in his own
element, his self-possession was complete. He glided quietly on, then
halted, then turned himself hither and thither, wheeled in a circle, and
halted again, his flat, ugly head lying on the water like the stump of a
tree.

Now that their comrades were safe on land again, the Igazipuza had
ceased their clamour. Indeed, they rather laid themselves out to
observe quietness, for the appearance of the alligator suggested a new
idea. If the fugitive was still hiding along the bank he would
assuredly come forth, preferring to take his chances at their hands to
the certainty of death at the jaws of the horrible brute. Even if
otherwise it would still be rather fun to see him dragged forth and
devoured. The alligator was their hunting-dog, they must not scare it
away when it was about to show them some sport. So they sat still,
eagerly watching it.

Not less eagerly was it watched by the fugitive himself. Gerard, from
his hiding-place stared forth upon the monster with a frightful
fascination. It was lying out in the stream barely fifty yards distant.
As he gazed, it sank out of sight suddenly and noiselessly. Only a few
bubbles marked the place where it