CHAPTER XX 



A SEA-GOING CROCODILE 



A DUMBER of years ago, I spent several 

 weeks fishing at the mouth of the St. John's 

 River, Florida, and while there I heard much 

 about the " sharp-nosed gater," and met a man who 

 told me that he could take me to a place way down 

 the river where lived the biggest alligator in Florida 

 an old fellow twenty feet long. I was so positive 

 that such an animal did not exist that I asked the 

 man if he would enter into an agreement with me 

 that I should defray all the expenses of the expedi- 

 tion and pay him two dollars a day if the animal 

 proved to be twenty feet long, or even eighteen; 

 while if it fell short of this he should meet the 

 expenses. He readily agreed to this, and I con- 

 gratulated myself that I was really on the trail of 

 a giant. A few days later we started across 

 country for the river to the south. It is useless 

 to go into the disagreeable features of this quest. 

 We hunted over swamps and pools for days, slept 

 in the open, fighting mosquitoes; indeed, I had 

 what I remember to be the most disagreeable time 

 of my life, and finally found the giant an alligator 



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