e has, what then?"

"Why, we must pull him back by the rope. He won't make much of a
struggle; it will be too tight round his neck, and choke him so. There,
what did I tell you!"

He pointed to where the rope ran down from the tree apparently into the
ground.

"But if he had scratched a hole," I said, "he would have made a heap."

"Oh no; it's all so soft as soon as you get through the roots. He'd
worm himself down right out of sight in no time, and--Well, I am took
aback."

Morgan had stooped down and picked up the noose. The alligator had
gone.

"Somebody must have set him free, Morgan."

"Somebody? What somebody would do that? There arn't no monkeys about
here as I know of, or it might have been one of them. Nobody else would
do it. Ah, I see."

He pointed to the noose, and showed me how the rope was frayed and
teazled out, as if by the application of claws.

"That's it, plain enough. He's had all night to do it in, and there he
has been scrat, scrat, scrat, scrat at his neck with those fore-paws of
his, till he got it loose and pushed it over his head."

"Nonsense!" I said; "a thing like that wouldn't be clever enough."

"I don't know," said Morgan. "They're clever enough to hunt and catch
dinners by slapping the water with their tails till the fish are
stunned; they're clever enough to make nests and lay eggs; and this one
was clever enough to try and cut me down with his tail, and I don't see
that it was so very wonderful for him to try and scratch off anything
that hurt his neck. Mind that gun, my lad; you don't want to shoot me,
I know."

I coloured, and felt vexed at my clumsiness in the way of carrying the
loaded piece, and stood watching while Morgan untied the rope from the
tree, rolled it up in a ring, fastened it, and put his arm through
before turning back.

"Never mind," he said, cheerily, "better luck next time. Now let's get
home to breakfast. I dare say he has gone down to the river and got his
long enough ago."

We walked back to find a couple of men from the settlement--which
promised some day to be a town--and as I caught sight of them, I felt
sure that it was bad news which they had brought, and my father's
serious face confirmed the idea as he spoke to one of the men.

"Yes; tell the General I will be there in good time," my father was
saying, as we came within earshot; and the men saluted and went off in
regular military style, for many of them who had now turne