Page:By Sanction of Law.pdf/284

 Bennet reached over to the front seat and touched the driver on the shoulder. They were just at a bend in the road which hid them from a further view. The car was throttled down and was but barely creeping along, both men listening for the sound. Again the scream. This time it sounded closer. At the same time there sounded, as if in answer a long, low, half bellow, half groan, rising to a crescendo of a siren fire alarm and then diminishing till it ended in something like the distant roar of a lion.

Bennet began to feel creepy. He thought of hyenas and other wild animals, then recalled that he had never heard of any such inhabiting this section of the country. He reached for the revolver, Dr. Tansey had forced him to carry. The black chauffeur, frightened at first, regained his composure, turned in his seat and whispered:

"Alligator!"

Before Bennet could reply again came the screams of fright, like that of a frightened woman. Bennet thought it must come from some animal caught by the alligator and was being devoured. They had just turned the curve of the road, the machine in low, when a horrible sight greeted them. In the middle of the road stood an elderly white woman, a bonnet thrown back from her head. Her eyes horror-stricken with fright. While some forty feet in front of her, disputing the roadway was a young alligator, about seven feet long, jaws wide open, showing rows of ferocious fangs, his body lifted from the ground by its feet. Every time the woman turned to retreat the reptile opened its jaws wider and bellowed. When she faced it, however,