Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-14
A DESPERATE FIGHT.
A Young embellishments Dangerous ED
counter. With a Georgia Alligator.

counter. With a Georgia Alligator.
MIR. Henry Todd, II Of our oldest
and wcalthiest citizens, tells the fol-
lowing amusing alligator story:
cit is now about fifty years since L
happened to make the acquaintance OF
a young English naval officer who had
come to visit some relatives on this
side of the Atlantic. He was fiery, m
bilious and daring to such an extent
that to encourage him in some OF his
| plans would have led to the most QuiN-
otto enterprises. Luckily, his first visit
was of short duration, and as he always
looked to me for cooperation in his
wild schemes, a feeling of relief came
over me when he was ready to bid fare
well.
"'Ncxt year I return he said. rs he
vigorously shookmy hand. and we will
have some glorious sport. l thought
that once in his native land he would
soon, forget the promise. but it proved
otherwise. He returned a year later as
full of life as ever. Day after day passed
and startling followed in quick
successioe. To kill rattlesnakcs and
moccasins seemed to him one of the
charming occupations of life, and the
greater the danger that accompanied
any of his plans the less he could
resist it. One day he cam and
proposed to go alligator-hunting,
and, displaying n cleaning dagger,
he said: Il propose to finish one
with this to-day He had two white
duck suits, and he doomed one while he
made me put the other on in honor of
his anticipated victory. l felt nervous
as to the result of his %foolhardy rcso-
luton to battle an alligator with such
a weapon, but nevertheless determined
to humor him so far as it was safe to do
so. High up on a mud flat a monster
soon appeared, basking himself in the
sun. The water being at a low stage
we had hard work getting Il boat up
to where he was lying. He was fast
asleep. however, and we managed to
| get within three or four feet of him. I
touched him with the oar. He seemed
dazed, and with his jaws wide open he
made for the bow of the boat. [ saw
the Englishman's dagger glitter in the
sun, but, appehending danger, l showed
the end of the oar into the threatening
gap. Resistance seemed of no avail,
however. The brute appeared de-
termined to get into the boat. l saw
the Englishman keel over, and in a
second he was completely buried i'll the
mud. l made IN attempt to pass che
alligator and go to my friends assist
ance, but a violent stroke from the
monsters tail laid me in the mud on
the opposite side of the boat. After Il
desperate effort [ managed to get hold
of the boat, but was completely blinded
with the mud. Thinking of my'friend,
Isang out 4 faint halloo, and in response
came a despairing groan. We pre-
sented Il pitiful spectacle-a strange
contrast to the gay, duck-clothed gen
tlcmen of an hour ago. The English
man proposed a hunt after this
experience.
"Many years after this, in glancing
through an English newspaper giving
an account of the social life of the Off
GERS of a certain English squadron, [
found that an alligator story of Il Capt.
ain had made him quite a name, and in
perusing this story l recognized every
little detail of our adventure. '-Darlen
(Ga.) Cor. atlanta Consultation.