Something like the long, black snout, as Bunny remembered once to have
seen it on an alligator in a zoological park tank, rose into view. And
there was a swirl of the water as though the reptile had switched its
tail.

"Oh!" exclaimed Sue. "It's an alligator! I'm going to run!"

CHAPTER XXII

THE RAFT

Bunny Brown wanted to be called a brave little boy, so when he heard his
sister say she was going to run because she thought he had scared up an
alligator in the river by throwing stones, Bunny thought it was time to
show his bravery.

"Don't be afraid!" he called to Sue, catching her by the hand before she
had time to run very far. "I won't let him hurt you!"

"How are you going to stop him?" Sue asked.

"I--I'll bang him on the nose with a stick," Bunny said, and he let go
of Sue's hand as he turned around to search for the proper kind of club
with which to beat an alligator.

As he did this Sue looked once more toward the river. Then she gave a
cry of delight.

"Oh, Bunny!" she exclaimed, "it isn't an alligator at all!"

"What is it?"

"It's just an old black log floating down," Sue answered. And that is
what it was. Either the stones Bunny had thrown or some swirl of the
current had loosed from the mud where it was held on the bottom of Squaw
River the long black log which was shaped like the snout of an
alligator. Floating half in and half out of the muddy water as it did,
the log looked exactly like one of the big, scaly reptiles.

"This is no good!" declared Bunny, who was rather disappointed at not
having a chance to do some hunting. "I'd like to see a real, live
alligator."

"Well, I wouldn't--not until mother and daddy are with me," remarked
Sue. She was no longer afraid and took turns with her brother throwing
stones at the floating log.

"Let's go down a little farther where the river is wider, and maybe
we'll see some alligators," suggested Bunny.

"All right," agreed Sue. "But I'm going to run if I see any."

She need not have been worried, however, for not an alligator did they
see, though Bunny threw many stones into the muddy water. Nor did they
see another log shaped so nearly like one of the reptiles.

But the children had a good time wandering around among the palm trees
and smelling the orange blossoms. They could hardly believe that about a
week before they were wearing mittens and playing in the snow.

"We'd better go back now," Sue said, after a while. "Mother will b