Stam took the ramrod out and began to draw the load, but, before he could succeed, the alligator became aggressive.  He winked at his comrades, snapped his jaws, and then waddled toward the young hunters.

“Look out!” Jed screamed, “he’s coming for you!  Get in the boat and draw the load there.”

Both boys turned and ran for the skiff, but there was no skiff to be had.  In the excitement they had jumped out of the boat and left it without securing it in any way, and the skiff had quietly drifted off.

The two boys were in a great predicament, and their fun gave place to fear.

“We’re in for it now, Stam,” gasped Jed.

“We’ll have to swim ashore.”

“We can’t do that unless we get on the other side of the island.  There are too many snags on this side.  We’d get caught in them.”

The boys walked around their narrow prison, and tried to frighten the alligators away; but they were unsuccessful in this attempt.  Two or three curious alligators crawled up on the land to ascertain the cause of the alarm.

The boys set up a shouting, and threw sticks at the saurians; but the more noise they made, the more alligators assembled around the island.  The backs and heads of several big ones could be seen swimming toward them from the adjacent shores.

Evidently the creatures knew intuitively that a feast was ahead of them, and each one was getting ready for his share.

“Oh, if this gun would go off!” groaned Stam.

“And if we had thought to tie that skiff,” sighed Jed.

“It’s all our fault; we were so careless.”

“I’ll never be so thoughtless again if I ever get out of this.”

“But we can’t.  We’ll be eaten up in less than half an hour.  Oh, dear!”

The battle now actually began.  The boys were forced to the extreme end of the island, and they had to fight or take to the water.  Behind them was an enormous alligator—­larger than any other two.  The big fellow was floating about motionless, with more than half of his body out of water, and he seemed to think that he was sufficient guard for that side of the island.

The two hunters clubbed the approaching enemies and retreated gradually into the water.  At first they almost cried in their terror, but, as they warmed up to their work, they felt that everything depended on their bravery.  Stam used the butt end of his gun, while Jed swung a heavy club effectively.

But there was no fighting such determined enemies successfully.  The boys had to jump around lively to escape the snapping jaws and thrashing tails.

At last they found themselves in water knee deep, with the alligators close upon them.

“It’s no use,” gasped Jed, throwing away his club.  “Swim for your life.  Make direct for the shore.”

“I don’t believe I have strength enough left,” replied Stam, who was nearly exhausted in swinging the heavy gun.