“That’s so.  Make the best of a bad bargain.  Why, no; nothing doing, boys.  This stem is made of solid brass, and could stand many a hard bump.  I think Cousin Archie must have been warned in advance, and had her made doubly staunch,” sang out Jerry.

“Can you see the snag anywhere around?” asked Frank.

“Not here.  Perhaps we’re down below it now.”

“Or it may have been an alligator, fellows.  Some of the natives told me there are a few in this old stream,” observed Bluff.

“Yes, and there he is now!” shouted Will.  “He crawled up on the bank to dry off, and is going to jump in again!  Oh! why wasn’t I ready!  Look out, Jerry!  He’s coming for you!”

Jerry was already in motion.  The notion of meeting an alligator might have appealed to him, but not under these circumstances.  He struck out like a madman as he struggled to get to a point where he could reach up and clasp the eager hands extended down to him, for he had heard the splash that announced the reptile’s taking to the water.

Of course, the little six-foot ’gator was by long odds the more scared of the two, but then Jerry, being a greenhorn, did not know that.  When finally the others managed to drag him, dripping, one deck, he was panting like a tired dog and puffing like a grampus.

“Talk to me about your narrow squeaks, they don’t appeal to me one little bit!” he gasped.  “Where’s the old alligator monster now, Will?  Did you snap him off?”

“He never came up again.  That’s just my luck, you know.”

“Better times coming, Will.  You’ll take many pictures of ’gators on logs and sunny banks before we finish this little trip,” laughed Frank.

“Yes, I know what you’re laughing at,” grunted Jerry, “and I suppose I did look like a big frog as I sailed away off the bow.  After this the lookout ought to be tied to his seat.  It was lucky, though, you had so little headway on, Frank.  We might have ended our cruise half an hour after we began it.”

The air was balmy, and Jerry seemed nothing loth to sit there and dry off, as the journey was resumed down the river.

“Any game along here, do you think?” asked Will presently.

“They told me there was plenty, only you have to look sharp, and not get lost in the swamps.  Men have gone out hunting and never come back again; though, of course, these were strangers, and not the natives.  Nobody ever knew whether they were lost or fell into the hands of some black criminals who were hanging out hereabouts.”

Jerry volunteered this information.  He was always making inquiries in connection with the possibilities of game.

“I saw a blue heron just then, swinging downstream below us.  And there’s something snow-white over there.  Yes, it must be a crane standing in the water, with his fishing-rod ready for business; and there goes a string of white birds, over yonder.  Do you know what they are, Frank?” asked Will.