"Just a few minutes more," requested Russ. "There's a big one over there
I want to film. I guess he must be the grandfather of this alligator
roost."

"I never saw such a nest of 'em!" exclaimed Jed. "I can make a pot of
money out of this. None of the other hunters has stumbled on it. I'm in
luck!"

Ruth and Alice had lost much of their first fear, and really the only
danger now was lest one of the big saurians upset the boat, which it
might easily do, by coming up under it. The alligators showed no
disposition to make an attack. Indeed, most of them swam past the boat
without noticing it, though a few of the smaller ones scuttled off when
they came up and eyed the craft and its occupants.

Out on the sand bar, sunning themselves, were nearly a score of the big
creatures. Now and then one would crawl over the others, or plunge into
the sluggish stream with a splash.

"Some fine skins here," commented Jed, with a professional air. "When we
come back, boys, we'll have a lively time."

"Isn't it dangerous?" asked Ruth, with a shudder.

"Alligators ain't half so dangerous as folks think," said Jed. "I've
hunted 'em, boy and man, for years, and I never got much hurt. One I
wounded once nipped me on the leg, and I've got the scar yet."

"I thought it was the tail that was the dangerous part of an alligator,"
said Russ, who now had all the pictures he wanted for the present,