Bully and Bawly No-Tail | Page 7

Bully and Bawly very soon. In fact, I think it is going to take
place at once. Just excuse me a moment, will you, until I look out of the
window and see if the alligator is coming. Yes, there he is. He just got
off the trolley car. The conductor put him off because he had the wrong
transfer.
So, all at once, as Bully and Bawly were hopping along through the
woods, this alligator that I was telling you about jumped out at them
from under a prickly briar bush. Right at them he jumped, and he was a
very savage alligator, for he had gotten loose out of the circus, where
he belonged, and he had been tramping around without anything to eat
for a long time, so he was very hungry.
"Now, I see where I'm going to have a nice dinner," the alligator said to
himself, as he jumped out at Bully and Bawly.
But those two frog boys were smart little fellows, and they were always
looking around for danger. So, as soon as the alligator made a jump at
them, they also leaped to one side, and the unpleasant creature didn't
get them.
"Oh, you just wait! I'll have you in a minute!" the alligator cried, and he
opened his mouth so wide that it went all the way back to his ears, and
the top of his head nearly flew off.
"We haven't time to wait," said Bully with a laugh, as he hopped on
with his basket of groceries.
"No, we must get back home in time for supper," spoke Bawly. "So
we'll have to leave you," and on he hipped and skipped and hopped
with his basket.
Those frog boys didn't really think that that alligator could reach them,
for he was so big and clumsy-looking that it didn't seem as if he could
run very fast. But he could, and the first thing Bully and Bawly knew,
that most unprepossessing creature, with a smile that went away around
to his ears, was close behind them and gnashing his teeth at them.

"Oh, hop, Bully, hop!" cried Bawly in great fright.
"Sure, I'll hop!" answered his brother. "You hop, too!"
Well, they both hopped as fast as they could, but on account of the
baskets of groceries which they had they couldn't hop as fast as usual.
The alligator saw this, and after them he crawled, and several times he
nearly had them by their tails. Oh, no, excuse me, if you please, frogs
don't have tails. I was thinking of tadpoles.
"Oh, just wait until I catch you!" cried the alligator, snapping his teeth
together.
But Bully and Bawly didn't wait. On they hopped, as fast as they could,
hoping to get away. And would you ever believe that an alligator could
be so mean as this one was? For he chased Bully and Bawly right up a
steep hill. You know it's hard to walk up hill, and harder still to hop, so
Bully and Bawly were soon tired. But do you s'pose that alligator cared?
Not a bit of it!
Right after them he kept crawling, faster and faster.
Bully and Bawly hopped as swiftly as they could, but the alligator kept
getting nearer and nearer to them, for he was big and strong, and didn't
mind the hill. They could hear his savage jaws gnashing together, and
they trembled so that Bully almost spilled the molasses out of his
basket and Bawly nearly dropped the granulated sugar.
Well, finally the two frog boys were at the top of the hill, and they were
very thankful, thinking that they could now get away from the alligator,
when they suddenly saw that the hill came to an end, and fell over the
edge of a great precipice just like the Niagara waterfall, only there
wasn't any water there, of course.
"Oh, we can't go any farther," cried Bully, coming to a stop.
"No," said his brother, "we can't jump down that awful gully. But look,
Bully, there is another hill over there," and he pointed across the big,

open space. "If we could jump across from this hill to that hill, the
alligator couldn't get us."
"Oh, but it's a terrible big jump," said Bully, and indeed it was; about as
wide as a big river. "But we've got to do it!" cried Bully, "for here
comes the terrible beast!"
The alligator was almost upon them. He opened his mouth to grab them
with his teeth, when Bully, spreading out his legs, and taking a firm
hold of his grocery basket, gave a great, big jump. Through the air he
sailed, over the deep valley, and he landed safely on the other hill. Then
Bawly did the same, and with