The Osceola times., 1881-02-19


I rendered fer1cious hy the taste Of blood
I already given them from the fish they
I had stolen. oh, they were a lively set.
and came up near enough % look me
. izht in the face with their horrid stony
/ eyes. ! tell You the old tasi.i-k story Is
I ~ myth. Nothing So I5ra'y-e- q man as
/ q have ier1cIOus man-eatiug shark look
! you s4Uareiy in the eyes
| realized my danger an Ig minute.
Ise old gator Was coming tpioe and
- mad as h-ll She saw me and stop
| ped tn look. She stood mp and exposed
/ the vital spot under her shoulder But
/ my gun was on the other side Of her
/ She had got between mC ani NY rJin-
I iJrccments | had not even NV knife
Things were becoming lively. | was
| surrounded c0mpieie,v-Cut Cfi and al
/ their mercy. Mercy from a mau-ester?
/ Mercy from an euragcd alligator Who
/ ever heard of such thing
Ny jaws seemed 20 grow stiff and my
/ scalp Ia wrinkle and corugate. Calmly
| and slowly took mp my stout. long fish-
/ ing pole and proceeded 20 meet the
/ advancing foe. | don't know why /
| took up the pole; certainly had no idea
/ Of using the frail, brittle thing a. a woa-
pom Of defense. Il never entered my
head.
! thought might jump over her head
and make another running leap 10 escape
| her tail, which she was using 80 dexter
| ously. | knew that one blow from that
armOred fail Of hers would break every
/ bone in my body. and | would be knock
/ ed either into the river or the lake t. be
| dcyOured, wounded and helpless
! | advanced To meet the foe | don't
| know what possessed me at that moment.
| because my thoughts were away at the
! farm. five miles OF, with my wife and
! little hlUe-eycd girl. II was not fear
| that | felt as ! started to advance. 1t
| was only choking lamp in INV throat
and drop uf something in the ewes a. |
| thought OF the folks at home / should
never see again. The euragcd gator. the
! old she devil had love for her murder
| ed young. and thought of that and how
! | might have kicked the little saurian
| into The water, and not have idly. coldly
murdered il. But what right had she to
| eyince 80 much maternal affection and
| behave 50 un'gator like, for we all know
| they for~ake their Young baby gators a.
soon as they can crawl.
We were now close together ! have
thought all these things in less than a
minute and now ! was within 10 feet Of
her capaci1uS mouth. She was beautiful
in her rage and / thought how my old
woman had looked when our badv got
her first ilo-Fing at -chool.
! stopped % permit her To- open the
attack. and. whenever She would make q
snap at me. | would jump over her head
while her pretty mouth was shut. and
then leap for life beyond the reach of her
ponderou- tail | could outrun her. un-
til | reached my knife and rifle
/ looked -earchiugly, desVariugly %
the right and left. There was no escape
by either Of those routes. In the river.
the bull 'gatpr- had risen to the surface
at the War-crie- Of the mother and were
o. active ds kittens, right up at the bank
ready To receive me.
In the lake, the sharks had kept pace
with me and ready to form an alliance
with the gators.
had 10 friends there.
She vas now within eight feet Of rne
and still walking tiptoe.
She gave a loud, blowing, half whistle.
as if she was letting of steam at white
heat.
She made a step forward, and poised
herself on all four-, about "a foot from
the ground, and the next moment She
woulj spring upon me. seize me by the
body OF legs, and bear me of into the
water ! don't know, can not tell even
at this time what possessed Inc 10 do
what / did. ! looked her Square in the
eyes. ! saw gore, and plenty Of it, in
her. got mad, and cried ont at the top
Of my voice.
"Oh, Mary, my darling baby
And, quick as lightning. and with the
energy Of "a dying man who knows it all
depends upon one last struggle. ! turned
the steel-pointed butt end OF my fishing
rod, and drove it into her wide open
mouth, and then -prJuc back a few feet.
Her ponder1us jaws clamped the rod,
and bit It OF a. clean 90, a Iig-Saw would
have done.
! had sent it home into her pulmonary
apparatus. Fortunately, the steel point
had entered the trarhca of the ,auriau.
II tickled her wonderfully; she cough
cd and tried to below, bgt could not. be-
cause she had eighteen inches Of cold
steel rammed home tight in her air pas
sage. She was 30 impressed she could
not artlculate, and ] was So frightened
that my knees smOte together.
Her struggles We're violent. She claw
ed az her mouth with her paw-: she
coughed and seemed cJnvulsei with
frantic efforts 10 get breath, and in her
violent commotiOn she rolled over into
the river and was soon drowned. i'm the
company of all her brave bull gators
that had rallied TO her call.
| was 50 weakened by the desperate
lunge ! had made, and by the reaction Of
relief from danger, that sat down. and
with the piece of reed left in my hand
punched at the eye of a shark that had
come up to seize me by the one leg that
had slipped into the lake.
The struggles of the NANNY gator in
the water as she drowned were fearful g.
behold. | went home, very much enfee-
hled, feeling great respect for the ma
terual instinct, and realizing sensation
Of what the mariner must have endured
after he had, with cruss-bow. shot the
albatruS-.
From that day to this my hair has
worn the color YOU see. Previous 10 that
it was a. red a. Tom Ochiltrec's fiery
crest. and now mine j. a mixture II red,
white and ycllow-a grisly bear sort of
capillati0n. that is neither ornamental
nor beautiful in this cline.
Uncle Joe Able finished his story and
said be could prJycit by Uncle Joe Ware,
who lived mp at the crossing Of the La
yaca river. on the road leading from In
dian0la % llalletsville. Uncle Joe Ware
sid it was true as gospel. and insisted
that his friend, | ucle Joe Able. should
~ u