Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue in the Sunny South Part 31

"Oh, look!" cried Sue, pointing. "We can't get away, Bunny! The wading place is full of alligators!"

And so it was! While the children had been at the center of the little island, the alligators had crawled up out of the river, and many were now sunning themselves on the sand near the ford. One or two were even on the end of the larger island. And as Bunny and Sue watched, they saw some swimming around in the shallow water through which the children had waded a little while before.

"We--we can't get back across!" Sue cried.

"No," agreed Bunny. "I don't b'lieve we can. Not in our bare feet."

Clearly it would have been dangerous to go in among those alligators.

Even Bunny, brave as he was, would not dare to do this.

"Oh, how are we going to get home?" wailed Sue.

Bunny did not know what to answer.

"I want mother!" sobbed Sue. This time she was really crying. Bunny felt he must do something. He dropped the pointed stick he had intended to use on the alligators and, putting his arm around Sue, said:

"Don't cry! I'll holler for help and somebody will hear us and come and get us."

"Will they?" asked Sue.

"Sure!" Bunny answered. "Come on, we'll both call!"

The children united their voices in loud calls of:

"Help! Help! Help!"

For a moment there was no answer. Some of the alligators seemed alarmed by the noise and scrambled back into the river. But others of the big, scaly creatures seemed to be crawling up toward Bunny Brown and his sister Sue.

"Oh, help! Help!" screamed the little girl, and Bunny joined his voice with hers.

Then, to their delight, they heard a call in answer.

"What's the matter? Who are you? Where are you?" asked a man, who, as yet, neither Bunny nor Sue could see.

"We're on the island! The alligators are after us!" Bunny answered.

"Don't be afraid! I'll be with you in a minute. They're my alligators and they got out of the pens," the man went on. This time Bunny and Sue knew where his voice came from. They looked down the stream and saw an elderly man, with white hair and a pleasant face, rowing toward them in a boat.

"Oh, take us away! Take us away!" begged Sue.

"I will," the man said. "How in the world did you children ever get here, anyhow? But don't be afraid. The 'gators won't hurt you. They'll all jump into the river!"

And, surely enough, no sooner had the man pulled his boat close to the island, so that the keel grated on the sand, than, with great splashes, the alligators all plunged into the river.

"What made 'em go away?" asked Sue, as she and Bunny went down to the sh.o.r.e.

"Oh, alligators are timid," said the man, with a laugh. "Did they scare you? Well, if you had only run at them or thrown something at them, they would all have crawled into the water. But who are you, anyhow?"

"I'm Bunny Brown and this is my sister, Sue," said the little fellow.

"Well, I'm Mr. Bunn," was the man's reply, and he smiled at the children. "I raise alligators a few miles down the river. Some of 'em got away last night, and I've rowed up here to see if I could find 'em.

I did."

"But they all got away!" exclaimed Bunny, for now not one of the scaly creatures was in sight.

"Oh, I'll get 'em again," said Mr. Bunn. "They won't go very much farther up Squaw River. It's too shallow. They'll soon turn and swim down, and they can't get past my place for I have a net stretched across the river to hold 'em back. Well, I'm glad I have found my 'gators. I was afraid some one had taken them. Now shall I put you children in my boat and row you home? Where do you live?"

"We're staying at Mr. Halliday's," Bunny answered.

"Oh, at Orange Beach. Yes, I know him and I know his place. You're quite a way from there. How'd you get here?"

"On a raft," Bunny replied. "It's over on that other island," and he pointed to the larger one.

"Our shoes and stockings are away back near the orange trees," said Sue.

"Oh," laughed Mr. Bunn. "Well, I'll let you come in my boat without any shoes or stockings on. Get aboard!"

A little later he was rowing the children up the river. Sue was no longer afraid, even though she could see some alligators swimming around in the water. She felt safe in the big boat, and so did Bunny.

"What do you keep 'gators for?" asked Bunny, when the boat was near the place where he and Sue had started out in the raft, some hours before.

"For their hides," answered Mr. Bunn. "I sell the hides, and pocketbooks and valises are made from them. But I guess there are your folks looking for you," and he nodded toward sh.o.r.e.

And there, on the bank stood Daddy and Mother Brown and Mr. Halliday, looking anxiously up and down the stream. Daddy Brown had the children's shoes and stockings in his hand.

"Oh, Bunny! where have you been?" cried his mother.

"We went down on a raft, and we landed on a pirate island, and then we got on an alligator island," Bunny explained.

"Alligators!" cried Daddy Brown.

"Some of mine got away," explained Mr. Bunn. And then he told how he had found Bunny and Sue.

"Well, you had quite an adventure!" exclaimed the orange grower. "I knew Mr. Bunn had 'gators on his place, but I never thought any of 'em would get away and come up here."

"Well, I'm glad we saw some," said Bunny.

Mr. Brown thanked Mr. Bunn for having saved Bunny and Sue, and as it was near meal time the alligator farmer was invited to stay to supper.

Washed and combed, with clean clothes on, Bunny and Sue sat at the table and related their adventures, while Mr. Bunn told about raising alligators.

"Do you make much money?" asked Mr. Brown.

"Well, yes, some years I do," was the answer. "But I'd like to make an extra lot this year. I've had some bad luck."

"Do you mean your alligators getting away?" asked Mr. Brown.

"No, though that's bad enough," Mr. Bunn replied. "But I was up North a few weeks ago on business, and I lost a valuable paper belonging to my nephew. It was for some stock in an oil well, and was made out to 'bearer.' If it had had his name on it I might have got it back. But as it is, I guess it's gone forever. He gave me the stock certificate to keep for him, but I guess I'm not very good at keeping things. I haven't told my nephew about it yet, but when he finds out I have lost his oil stock temporary certificate he'll be angry with me, I'm afraid."