Omaha daily bee., 1888-05-06
SEIZED BY A sAuRlAN.
A Brave Mother Rcscucs Her Child
From n Terrible Death.

@Nf'IALN lAG
Lambert, living on LakeApopka, or
Tsala lake, IS it is called, report q very
thrilling experience at their place tho
other day. The family is composed OF
Mr.. and Mrs. Lambert and three CHI IL
dren, two boys and a girl baby, the boys
being eight and fifteen respectively, and
the girl just able to toddle about. They
moved here some two years ago and
pre-empted n homestead on the south
side of the lake. The house is built
about two hundred yards from the lake
and on n slight elevation, the land in
front sloping down gradually to tho
waters edge. At the left, off some lit
tie distance, is an immense saw-grass
pond. Near this Mr.. Lambert built an
Enclosure for his pigs, one side facing
the lake, and up to n month ago he had
u magnificent lot of porkers. Several
weeks since one night he heard n trem-
endous uproar in his hog pen and
hurrying out with his shotgun
and lantern, he vas Just
hogs disappearing in the lake in the
mouth of n huge alligator while the
scores of balls of fire see glimmerlng
in the darkness on the lake showed
the presence of others of the saurian's
friends, for, to the average gator, fresh
pork is n luxury he dearly Graves. From
that beginning, their inroads were kept
up with great regularity, and though
he killed n dozen or more, yet the pork
was too nice for them to %relinquish
their feeding ground. Lately they
have grown so bold as to crawl into his
yards in the day time, and the preda-
tory raids OF these marauders on his
hogs and fowls have rendered Mr..
Lambert's life n burden to him.
Last Saturday afternoon Mrs. LAM
bert, who was in the back part of the
house, was attracted by the creams Of
her little girl, and her frantic cries Of
''Mamal' "Mamal" Hurrylng to the
front of the house, she could not at first
locate the little ones where-
abouts, but her piercing cream
tic mother soon discovered the
hutter or her child's dress hear the
lake shore, the palmetto bushes
nearly hiding her from view.
the woodpile she flew to the waters
edge, and as she rounded the palmetto
patch a sight burst upon her that nearly
drove her crazy. On the edge of the
bank, with it's body half in the water,
was a huge alligator, with its forepaws
outstretched raising it from the ground,
while it's tail dashed the water into foam.
Just in front of it, and clinging to q
dear life, was the little girl, her dress
being held in the jaws of the gator,
who was slowly dragging the child to o
terrible doom. The gators dull eyes
cleaned with anger, like Goals of fire,
and when Mrs. Lambert appeared the
monster uttered a hoarse below and
started backward, tearing loose the
child's slight hold. The latter's in
~fantile features were drawn into NJ ago.
nized appeal, and as the animal dragged
her down she was too completely par
of her baby banished all fear from
Mrs. Lambert, and she rushed up
and0 struck the saurian over The
heud with the AK, and, selling the
child with both hands, tried to pull her
away. The sharp blade cut into the
alligator's eye, and, mad with the pain,
he opened his jaws and half sprang at
the woman. This left the child free,
and they both fell backward. Mrs.
| Lambert said afterward that at this mo-
ment she never expected to ave her
around his tail with n Notwithstanding
whisk, but the fortunate fall of the two
placed them outside its deadly sweep.
The alligator advanced as fast as it
could, with unwieldy waddle, and Mrs.
Lambert attempted to rise apd escape.
Her dress caught on a root, and before
she could free herself the gator made
a snap at her and missed, catching hold
of her dress instead. Finding that it
had secured something, it commenced
backing toward the water, dragging
along the PROSTATE woman, who now
fully realized her peril, and filed the
~, ,r;tb hor criac fpr hn1n Che frnn-
tically clutched at the roots as she was
dragged over them, but her dress was Of
stout material, and the gators strength
soon overcame her feeble resistance.
Suddenly. with n heavy sinking of the
heart, she felt that her foot was in the
water, and that, If no help came, She
was doomed to a terrible death. The
horror gave her strength for a moment
and she made another frantic effort to
free herself, but it was vain, and she
felt herself being drawn into the water.
Suddenly her hands, which were nerv-
Ously clutching at any and everything
that seemed to promise a support, passed
over the AK handle. With the swiftness
of thought and with s%uperhuman energy
she seized the helve and scrambled up,
how she cannot say. She managed to
deal the gator a heavy blow with the
blade. With rare good fortune it struck
his other eye and crushed into the head.
The maddened and wounded animal
opened its jaws with a roar of pain and
rage, and Mrs. Lamberts's dress slipped
off its huge teeth. Scrambling up
she seized her baby girl and
fed wildly to the house, and fell on the
porch in n lead faint. Her husband,
on returning home at night, found her
there unconscious, with the child pat
ting her mothers cheeks and trying to
arouse her. Doctors were ut once sum-
moned, but at last accounts the sorely
tried mother was living over again her
heroic fight in the fevers's delirium.
The next day Mr.. Lambert went to the
lake and at the same spot found out the
old gator lurking IN the weeds. AS
footsteps were heard approaching, he
came forth menancingly with a 44-cali-
bre Winchester soon placed him hors
de combat. The wounds in his head
were deep and showed that the mothers
arm was nerved to strike a terrible blow.
The little child vas not hurt, as the
gators teeth caught in its dress. But
the dresses of both the child and Mrs.
Tamhprt shnWad the hard usage thew