and
swirl, though on a smaller scale, where some big trout was on the feed,
and had stolen down to throw in his cast. Now he himself was being
"risen."

Again came that bubbling swirl, and now again that grisly head rose up.
And, as it did so, Gerard, with all the strength of his arm struck the
blade of the knife right down into the reptile's eye. In it went,
nearly to the hilt. The blood spurted forth in a great jet, and the
strong, thick-backed knife-blade snapped like a bit of rotten stick, as
the stricken monster wrenched himself round, and, with a convulsive
plunge, sank out of sight.

It was all done in a moment--so suddenly, so quickly, that Gerard could
at first hardly believe it had actually happened, but for the deep
streak of blood upon the surface and the seething bubbles where the
water was lashed into spume by the frantic blow of the monster's tail.
But as he realised that he had defeated and probably slain his
formidable enemy, a feeling of elation set in, which, however, was not
destined to last. True, he had slain one alligator, but then there were
two. Would not the other attack him next, even if the blood did not
attract yet more of them? He could not go on killing alligators in this
fashion all day; besides, his cleverly devised bayonet was snapped and
useless. Not altogether, though. There was still enough left of the
knife-blade to make a sufficiently serviceable weapon if planted
straight in the eye as before.

Suddenly his attention was diverted to another matter--a sound of quick
ejaculations and the vibration of footsteps running upon the bank above.
Gerard's first thought was that he was discovered, but, by the sound,
he knew that they had run past. Ha! They had discovered the
alligator--wounded or slain!

From his present position he could not see out, and he dared not move
from it without exposing himself to the twofold danger of being seized
in the water, and thus at every disadvantage, by another alligator, or
by the agitation of the branches making his presence known to his
enemies. So he strove to make up for it by listening with all his
might.

That the savages had made a discovery of some sort was, from their
conversation, inevitable. From the sound of their voices he estimated
that they were about fifty yards below.

"Ha! The blood!" he heard one say. "It has taken him; picked him up
under the bank. _Ou_!"

"We could not find him, but the alligator has been a