"It's the old alligator man himself. What shall we do?"
"Run!" exclaimed Flop. "Run as fast as we can."
So he and Curly started to run but my goodness me sakes alive and a postage stamp! No sooner had they gone ten steps than the cross old alligator man saw them, and after them he came as fast as he could crawl on his four legs, wiggling his humpy tail. "Oh, he'll get us, sure!" wailed Floppy.
"Run faster!" urged Curly.
Well, they both ran as fast as they could, squealing with fright, and the alligator man was coming right after them, and he had almost caught them when, all of a sudden, a little squeaky voice called out:
"In here, boys! Crawl right in here, under this shock of corn, and he can't see you!"
They looked, and there, in front of a sort of cave, that was made in one of the upright piles of corn, stood the little mousie girl who had been pinched by the stone on her tail.
"In here!" she cried. "Quick, before he comes, and he won't know where you have gone!"
"But he'll know we're hiding in the corn," said Flop.
"Quick! Get inside and talk afterward!" said the mousie girl. "Besides there are so many piles of corn that the alligator man won't know which one you're hiding in, and it will take him all night to peek into them all. And after dark I'll show you the way home."