s mother who was coming, so that she could prepare to
receive him.

Mrs. Elmer was much shocked at Mark's story, and said she was very
thankful that he had not only been the means of saving a human life,
but had escaped unharmed himself. At the same time she made ready to
receive the boy, and when the men brought him in she had a bed prepared
for him, warm water and castile soap ready to bathe the wounds, and
soft linen to bandage them.

Captain Johnson, who called himself "a rough and ready surgeon,"
carefully felt of the wounded foot to ascertain whether or not any
bones were broken. The boy bore this patiently and without a murmur,
though one or two gasps of pain escaped him. When the captain said
that, though he could not feel any fractured bones, the ankle-joint was
dislocated, and must be pulled back into place at once, he clinched his
teeth, drew in a long breath, and nodded his head. Taking a firm hold
above and below the dislocated joint, the captain gave a quick twist
with his powerful hands that drew from the boy a sharp cry of pain.

"There," said the captain, soothingly, "it's all over; now we will
bathe it and bandage it, and in a few days you will be as good as you
were before you met Mr. 'Gator. If not better," he added, as he took
note of the boy's wretched clothes and general appearance.

After seeing the patient made as comfortable as possible, Mark and the
two men went out, leaving him to the gentle care of Mrs. Elmer and Ruth.

"Mark," said Captain Johnson, "let's take the skiff and go and get that
alligator. I guess Miss Ruth would like to see him. One of my men can
go along to help us, or Jan, if he will."

"All right," said Mark, and Jan said he would go if it wouldn't take
too long.

"We'll be back in less than an hour," said the captain, "if it's only a
mile away, as Mark says."

So they went, and it took the united strength of the three to get the
alligator into the skiff when they found him. He measured ten feet and
four inches in length, and Captain Johnson, who claimed to be an
authority concerning alligators, said that was very large for
fresh-water, though in tide-water they were sometimes found fifteen
feet in length, and he had heard of several that were even longer.

While Mark was showing them just where the boy lay when he first saw
him, Jan picked up an old muzzle-loading shot-gun and a pair of
much-worn boots, that had heretofore escaped their notice. Both barrels
of the