“Yes, but they often break them taking bites out of people who try to steal their eggs,” said Lee. “It must hurt the poor alligators when they break a tooth that way.”
“That’s the only reason I ran so fast,” said Fred. “I wasn’t afraid of the alligator, but I didn’t want the poor thing to hurt its teeth on me.”
“Oh, we believe that,” said Lee sarcastically.
“Well, if you believe that, you’ll believe anything,” said Fred brazenly. “I’ll have to think up something real good next time.”
“I don’t mind telling you fellows the real reason why I ran, if you coax me,” declared Bobby.
“I’ll bite,” said Lee. “Why did you run?”
“Because I couldn’t fly,” replied Bobby.
CHAPTER XXII
THE DISTANT HOWL
“That sounds like one of Billy’s jokes,” declared Fred, “and I can’t say anything worse than that about it.”
“No, that’s a pretty hard knock, all right,” admitted Bobby, “but I’ll try not to do it again.”