A DOG AND AN ALLIGATOR. 169 



have seen each other pretty clearly, which 

 made the dog howl more than ever. The 

 beast, after looking round to see if the coast 

 was clear, made straight for the shore, and 

 was just creeping up the steep bank to seize 

 the dog, when I fired my long barrel at him, 

 not five paces distant, and sent a ball just 

 into his eye ; he was dead before you could 

 say ' Ave Maria,' and, Don Jorge, I slept 

 soundly that night, and gave the cur-dog a 

 good supper." 



The old fellow often repeats the tale, but 

 the pantomimic way of relating his journey 

 down the stream rendered it very amusing to 

 me. The mixture of bonhomie and pomp- 

 osity rendered him always entertaining. One 

 day he ordered his son to mount a horse 

 and go in search of another one I wished to 

 purchase ; he returned without him, and the 

 alternate anger and kindness of the father 

 diverted me muc^ ; at length, turning to me, 

 he said, " I do not know what to call him."" 

 He would not call him an ass, mule, or lazy 

 dog, because he would have involved himself, 

 as the father of the animal, and that would 

 have been too much for his dignity, but he 

 compromised by saying, " Don Jorge, my 

 son has eaten a he-mule for his breakfast." 



