Once more Jerry threw the gear into place, and this time the machine went forward and reached the opposite bank.
“I thought you were never coming,” observed Ned, who was shivering in his wet undergarments. “What did you stop for? To catch fish?”
“We stopped because we had to,” replied Jerry, and he told Ned about the alligator.
“I thought you were shooting bullfrogs,” observed the swimmer as he got out some dry clothing. “Say, if we told the folks at home that a Mexican alligator tried to chew up an automobile, I wonder what they’d say?”
“The beast must have been very hungry, or else have taken us for an enemy,” remarked the professor. “I wish I could have saved him for a specimen. But I suppose it would have been a bother to carry around.”
“I think it would,” agreed Jerry. “But now we are safe, I must see if Mr. Alligator damaged the machine any.”
He looked at the wheels where the saurian had taken hold, but beyond the marks of the teeth of the beast on the spokes and rim, no harm had been done.
“Are we ready to go on now?” asked the professor, when Ned had finished dressing.
“I’d like to take a dip in the river,” said Bob. “It’s hot and dusty on the road, and we may not get another chance.”