Quonab would not use the
gun; in this case he felt he must atone by making an equal fight.
He quickly formed a plan; he fastened the tomahawk and the coiled
rope to his belt, then boldly and silently slipped into the lake,
to approach the snapper from the water side -- quite the easiest
in this case, not only because the snapper would naturally watch
on the land side, but because there was a thick clump of rushes
behind which the swimmer could approach.
Then, as instructed, Rolf went back into the woods, and came
silently to a place whence he could watch the snapper from a
distance of twenty yards.
The boy's heart beat fast as he watched the bold swimmer and the
savage reptile. There could be little doubt that the creature
weighed a hundred pounds. It is the strongest for its size and
the fiercest of all reptiles. Its jaws, though toothless, have
cutting edges, a sharp beak, and power to the crushing of bones.
Its armour makes it invulnerable to birds and beasts of prey.
Like a log it lay on the beach, with its long alligator tail
stretched up the bank and its serpentine head and tiny wicked
eyes vigilantly watching the shore.
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