The two boys were in a great predicament, and their fun gave place to fear.
"We're in for it now, Stam," gasped Jed.
"We'll have to swim ashore."
"We can't do that unless we get on the other side of the island. There are too many snags on this side. We'd get caught in them."
The boys walked around their narrow prison, and tried to frighten the alligators away; but they were unsuccessful in this attempt. Two or three curious alligators crawled up on the land to ascertain the cause of the alarm.
The boys set up a shouting, and threw sticks at the saurians; but the more noise they made, the more alligators assembled around the island. The backs and heads of several big ones could be seen swimming toward them from the adjacent shores.
Evidently the creatures knew intuitively that a feast was ahead of them, and each one was getting ready for his share.
"Oh, if this gun would go off!" groaned Stam.
"And if we had thought to tie that skiff," sighed Jed.
"It's all our fault; we were so careless."