h the
reptile, Morgan laughingly saying that he should like to have another
with one twice as big, while I thought I should not, but did not say so.

The morning was delightful, with the birds piping and singing, and in
the open sunny parts we caught sight of the lovely orange orioles, and
those all yellow and black--birds which took the place of our thrushes
and blackbirds of the old country. Every now and then a tall crane
would fly up from where he had been prodding about with his sharp bill
in some mossy pool, his long legs trailing out behind him as if he had
been dancing on stilts.

It had all grown familiar to me now, but I was never tired of gazing at
the dark, shadowy places where the cypresses rose right out of the black
water, and the great trailing moss, ten and fifteen feet long, hung down
from the boughs like ragged veils. The place looked as if it might be
the haunt of large, water-loving serpents, or strange beasts which
lurked in waiting for the unwary traveller; but we heard nothing but the
cries of birds and the rustling and beating of wings, or the hum of
insect life, save now and then when there was a splash from the river
away to our right, or from a black pool hidden from us by the dense
growth.

"Make some of 'em stare over at home, Master George," said Morgan.

"What at?"

"Place like this. Miles and miles of it, and no use made of it. Round
here! That's right. Remember that old rotten tree?"

"Yes," I said; "we must be close to the place now. How near shall I
stand to the alligator when I shoot?"

"Oh, just as near as you like. Mind that hole; I shouldn't wonder if
another one lived there."

I stepped quickly aside from the ugly-looking spot, and felt so vexed on
seeing my companion smile, that I turned back and stood looking down
into the place, forcing myself to do so quietly, and then following in a
deliberate way, though all the time I could not help feeling a kind of
shuddering sensation run over me, as if I had suddenly stepped out of
the hot woodland into a current of fresh cool air.

I glanced at Morgan as I overtook him, but he did not say anything, only
trudged on till, suddenly laying his hand upon my arm, he pointed to a
tree dimly-seen through the overhung shades.

"That's the one I tied the line to," he said; "now I shouldn't wonder if
we find he has scratched himself a hole in the soft earth. It's nearly
half water, and I dare say he could easy."

"And if h