aimed Bunny. "They're sure enough alligators!"

There could be no mistake about it this time. Crawling up out of the
river to the shore of the small island were a number of the long-tailed,
scaly creatures with the big snouts. And as one of the alligators
crawled up he opened his mouth, showing rows of sharp teeth.

"Oh, I don't want to stay here!" cried Sue, in alarm.

Bunny Brown grasped more firmly his sharp stick.

"Don't be afraid!" he said. "I won't let the alligators hurt you!"

CHAPTER XXV

MR. BUNN

Sue Brown thought a great deal of her brother Bunny, and she knew he was
brave and good to her. But whether he could save her from the alligators
she was not quite so certain.

"Oh, Bunny, Bunny! where you going?" cried Sue, as she felt her brother
pull away from her.

"I'm going down there to drive those alligators away with my sharp
stick!" he answered.

"Oh, Bunny, don't!" begged Sue. "There's such a lot of 'em!"

Bunny began to think this himself. As he and his sister watched, they
saw more alligators crawling up out of the water to the warm sunny bank
of the little island.

"There's hundreds of 'em!" cried Sue.

More and more alligators kept coming out of the water. Some were
large--fully fifteen feet long perhaps, with big, sharp claws, a long,
rough tail, and such big mouths! Others of the alligators were small,
but there were no babies among them.

The sun shone warm on the mud and sand shores of the little island and
that is why the alligators climbed out there. Alligators spend about
half their time under water, getting things to eat, but when the sun
shines hot they like to bask in it. That is what the scaly creatures
were now doing.

"Let's don't hurt alligators," begged Sue of her brother. "Let's go back
to our own island."

Bunny looked at the big, glistening, black creatures, as they crawled
over one another, sometimes giving flips with their tails and opening
their mouths. And though Bunny was a brave little chap he knew it would
never do for him to go anywhere near the alligators. As it was, he and
his sister were some distance back from the shore, up near the center of
the little island. The alligators did not seem to have noticed them.

"All right," Bunny answered. "I won't hurt any of the alligators. We'll
go home and I'll tell daddy and Mr. Halliday and they can come and hunt
them."

"That'll be better," Sue said, with a sigh of relief.

For a little while longer