ive minutes.

"Let go and haul in!" I called to Ben Bowman, at the hawser.

The assistant engineer did not permit an instant to elapse before he
and his two helpers were hauling on the rope with all their might.

The moment I saw that the hawser was running free, I rang the gong to
go ahead, with the helm hard a-starboard. I heard the screw turn a
couple of times, and then it stopped. I did not quite understand this.
The next thing I saw was Moses rushing on the forecastle.

"The propeller is fouled in a root or a rope, Alick!" exclaimed he.
"Back her a stroke or two, and it may clear itself."

I rang to back her as he rushed aft to the engine-room. By this time
the Islander was fairly abreast of us, and I feared that our elaborate
scheme had failed. But we were seventy-five miles from New Orleans, and
there was time enough for as lively a race as ever was seen on the
"Father of Waters."

I rang again to stop the engine, and then to start it. It went hard,
and I heard some snapping near the stern. It was evident that the screw
had been fouled in a root, and I was afraid it might have been twisted
into the propeller. I stopped the engine again. When I found the screw
did not move freely I ran aft, and found Hop Tossford had climbed over
the stern with a boat-hook in his hand, and was punching in the
direction of the propeller.

"It's a crocodile!" he exclaimed. "There it goes!"

I saw the creature rise to the top of the water. Hop was English, and
Englishmen are apt to call all saurians by this name. I should not have
expected to see the real alligator so near the salt water, for I had
heard that only crocodiles proper lived or thrived in salt water. It
may have been one washed out from some bayou by the high water, which
was prevailing at this time, or it may have been the real crocodile. I
did not stop then to reason about this case in natural history; but as
soon as I saw the mangled reptile, which was about ten feet long, on
the surface of the water, I hastened to the pilot-house, and started
the screw again. This time it moved freely, and I concluded that the
saurian had been resting on the blades of the propeller when it began
to turn.

By this time the Islander had made about a quarter of a mile, as I
judged, against the swift current. But there was now no chance for her
to dodge us. Our fires were in excellent condition, for the fireman had
been forcing them for twenty minutes.

"A miss hit," said Cap