THE CAMP FIRE. 35 



know de pizens, and she know all de woods, an' day an' 

 night is all de same to her ; an' she knows medicine to 

 throw huntin' dogs off her track, an' nobody kin ketch 

 her. An' she tell dis child all what alligator say, an' so 

 I knows. Alligator lay he eggs m de sand, and den 

 when dey hatch out on some blazin' hot day little alliga- 

 tors cut streeks fur de water right off; dat's all seen of 

 em till night. Night cum, an' ole alligator dat keep 

 watch cum up on de sand-bank, an' he find de little alli- 

 gators all hatch out. Den he turn round and commence 

 to croak little : nuffin come ; he croak little louder, nuffin 

 come ; den he stand up on he toes and he roar like all 

 natur. It makes de water shake ; den young alligators 

 cum, an' ole marm aUigator cum, an' dey all stand dere 

 togedder, an' ef de moon is shinen it's real savage fur to 

 see 'em. An' de ole alligator he takes de chair, an' he 

 tells em, and dis is jes what he tells em, I knows it's so, 

 and so does Aunty Foko ; 



" ' You young alligators, you great fools ! you tink 

 you sumthin an' you aint nuttin. You live half de time 

 on land, t'other half de time in bayou, an' so you ben't 

 smart m nudder. You be so loggish-like in de water 

 you can't ketch fishes, and you got such little legs on 

 land you can't come up to nuttin. N'ow you must larn, 

 and when you've larnt then you'll know suthin. And I'll 

 give you a teacher and he's de possum.' 



" When de ole alligator says dis. all de young ones 

 larf, for dey knows what a possum is, for dey seed em a 

 pokin' long the b'yous and dey's clined to de pinion dat 



