, 1889-04-10
AN AWFUL STRUGGLE.
A woMAN's THRILLING ADVENTURE
WITH AN ALLIGATOR.

A iRmlly named LAMBERT nVlng on
Lake Charlie Apopka, or Tsala lake, as
1t is called, report a very thrilling expert
ence. The family is composed OF Mr..
and Mrs. Lambert and three children
two boys and a girl baby, the boys being
8 and 10 respectively, and the girl just
able to toddle about. They moved there
some two years 6 and pre-empted 4
homestead on the south side Of the lake.
The house is built about 200 feet from
the lake and on a slight elevation, the
land in front sloping down gradually to
the waters edge. At the left, off some
little 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 a month ago he had a
magnificent lot of porkers.
One night he heard a tremendous roar
in his hog pen, and, hurrying out with
his shotgun and lantern, he was Just in
time to see one of his fine hogs disappear
ing in the lake in the mouth of a huge
alligator, while the score of balls of fire
seen glittering in the darkness on the
lake showed the presence of others.
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 yard in day
time, and the predatory raids of these
marauders on his hogs and fowls have
rendered Mr.. Lambert's life a burden.
H LITTLE DAUGHTERS PERI.
A recent adventure, however, of two
members OF his family with one of these
dreadful creatures has SO terrified the
farmer and has so alarmed his entire
household that he is seriously contem-
plating abandoning his place. One Sat
urday afternoon Mrs. Lambert, who wa
In the back part of the house, was at
tracted by the screams Of her little girl
and frantic cries of Mammal Mammar'
Hurrying to the front of the house, she
could not ut first locate the little ones
whereabouts, but her piercing screams
continued, and the almost frantic mother
soon discovered the nutter of the child's
dress near the lake shore, the palmetto
bushes nearly hiding her from view.
Snatching up an AK from the woodpile,
she flew to the waters edge, and as she
rounded the palmetto patch n sight
burst upon her that nearly drove her
crazy.
On the edge OF the bank, with its body
half in the water, was n huge alligator,
its forepaws outstretched, raising 1t from
the ground, while its tail dashed the
water into foam. Just in front of 1t, and
clinging TO n palmetto DOT with her
tiny hands for lear life, was the little
girl, her dress being held in the jaws of
the alligator, who was slowly dragging
the child. The a~lligator's dull eyes
cleaned with anger, like red Goals of
fire, and when Mrs. Lambert appeared
the monster uttered n hoarse below and
started backward, tearing loose the
child's slight hold. The latter's i~nfantile
features were drawn into IN agonized
appeal, and .s the animal dragged her
down she was too completely paralyzed
with fear to even cry out. The peril of
her baby banished all fear from Mrs.
Lambert, and she rushed up and struck
the saurian over the head with the AK,
and, seizing the child with both hands,
tried to pull her away. The sharp blade
cut into the alligator's eye, and, mad
with pain, he opened his jaw and half
sprang ut tho woman
FIGHTING FOE HER F
This left the child free, and they both
fell backward. Mrs Lambert said after
ward that at this moment she never ex-
pected to save her life. As she fell the
alligator swung around his tail with a
terrible sounding whisk, but the fortu-
nate fall of the two just placed them
outside its deadly sweep. The alligator
advanced as far as it could with unwieldy
waddle, and Mrs. Lambert attempted to
rise and escape. Her dress caught Oh a
root, and before she could get up and
free herself h alligator made snap at
her and missed, catching hold of her
dress instead. Finding that 1t had So
cured something, 1t commenced backing
toward the water, dragging along the
PROSTATE woman, who now fully realized
her peril and filled the air with her cries
for help. She frantically clutched ut the
roots rs she was dragged over them, but
her dress was of stout material, and the
a~iiigator's strength soon overcame her
feeble resistance.
Suddenly, with a 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 n moment,
and she made another frantic effort to
free herself, but it was in vain, and she
felt herself drawn into the water. Sud-
denly her hands, which were ~nervously
clutching at anything and everything
that seemed to promise support, passed
over tho ak handle. With the swiftness
of thought and with superhunRu en-
ergy she seized the helve and scrambled
up. and how she cannot say. She man
aged 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
reptile opened its jaws with a roar Of
pain and rage, and Mrs. Lambert'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 a dead faint. Her hus.
band, on returning home at night, found
her there unconscious, with the child
patting her mothers cheek, trying In
her baby way to arouse her.-Los An.
geles Express.