The San Francisco call., 1896-02-23

hunger, that her own clothes were nearly
stripped from her body and that she was
dying of thirst.
There was a hazy interval, though
partly through it rang family the peevish,
whimpering cry of an infant followed by
silence. When the mother staggered to
her feet she found her baby sleeping in
the hot sand beside her. She staggered to
lit lie pool few steps away, drank her
fill of tepid, ill-smelling water and re-
turned to- her infant.
new danger soon appeared-the twink
ling eyes of mocassins. the most yenomous
OF all the snakes of the Southern iungles.
peered at her and the child from small
TUFTS OF dwarf cane that fringed the river
bank. She snatched up her baby and be-
gan cautiously to pick her way along the
river, lest she set foot on one of these
deadly reptiles. Soon she found place of
seeming safety, where she might enioy
little rest and have time TO bring her wits
to order and devise means of escape. IT.
was great tree that had stood on the low
bank and had fallen into the river at an
acute angle to the shore line Ii was still
anchored to the bank by a few unseyered
roots on the under side, and although its
great trunk was half submerged the ex
posed part was broad and secure. Had
not her observation been blunted or.possi-
bly, her experience lame she would have
observed tha. the upper part, long denuded
OF It's bark, bore certain signs that, had
she known their meaning, would have
made her avoid this refuge as the most
deadly trap into which she could have
fallen.
Seeing none of these she walked out upon
the log as far as she could go to the re-
manning stumps of broken limbs. and there
she sat down, made herself comfortable
with her back resting against a branch
stump, and appeased the hunger of her
whlmpering child. The infant then fell
into siumber. The spot where the woman
sat was in the shade of the trees on shore
feeling OF utter exhaustion and of ra-
freshlng GOODNESS came over her. and before
she could realize her peril ana summon ber
energies for renewed efforts to escape sbe
went to sleep.
Presently she was reused nv a stro,o
cracking and scrambling, and tho Ioo
swayed so heavily that she cIutchod
broken branch barely in time to save bar
self from the water, which was dark ond
deep. 1t was second or two after her
heavy eyes had opened that she was ah1a
to perceive huge alligator SLOWLY Greer
ing down the log toward her and TINS CON-
pletely shutting off all means of escane -
the shore. To spring into the river wos
out OF the question. A choking terror for
moment paralyzed all her faculties Sha
realized that her baby, which had
awakened while she slept, was erwin.
again, and that this sound had attrac,a5
the hungry saurian. With wisdom and
calnlness born of a great horror dimIv
realized the woman stilled the cries Of bar
baby, at the same time wrenching rotten
limb from the prone trunk and wayipo il
menacingly at the beast.
The alligator stopped and watched ber
with blinking eyes. She could see his
broad tanks expand and contract with his
breathing, and the rank odor of the musk
which issued from an orifice undernaath
his throat was borne to her senses with
the hot breath that poured heavily from
his nostrils. There he lay fiat on his hal,,,
perfectly still, hugging the log and blink,
ing stupidity at her with his small and
watery black eyes.
He was not more than twenty feet from
her, but presently he began to shortan tic
interval by creeping forward with an .I-
most imperceptlble motion. The woman
believe that if she could command sniff.
cient strength to rise and assume threat