st gasp of fright, had come forward to stand beside Betty.
Amy had already shrunk to a place in the rear near Grace. It seemed to
be always thus, with Betty and Mollie facing the immediate danger, and
Grace and Amy needing protection.

Not that they were not brave when occasion demanded it. They would not
have been outdoor girls else, but somehow the first fear of something
menacing sent Amy and Grace scurrying to the rear, whence it needed
considerable persuasion to bring them to the van again.

"They--they don't seem to see us," ventured Amy, after a few tense
seconds, during which the four had stared at the alligators.

"They won't see you and Grace at all, if you stay behind us," said
Mollie a bit sharply. "There's no present danger, as far as I can see.
Why don't you come out and help Betty and me throw stones at them?"

"Oh, you're never going to do that!" gasped Grace. "Why that would--make
them mad!"

"Well," answered Betty, with a shrug of her shoulders, "I don't know
that a mad alligator is any worse than any other kind. They're all mad,
as far as I'm concerned, and throwing stones at them can't make them any
worse. I rather side with Mollie. We may drive them away."

"Yes, and it may drive them toward us," cried Amy. "Please don't!"

"We won't coax them this way if we can help it," said Betty. "You may be
sure of that. But we must do something. We can't stay out on this
almost-island much longer. We'll have to eat, and----"

"Where's Tom?" suddenly asked Grace. "He ought to be able to rescue us.
He knows all about alligators--and--and such things."

"Yes, maybe he can charm them away," suggested Mollie
half-sarcastically. "But I don't see him."

The girls looked toward where they had left their escort setting the
"table" on the grass. They had a glimpse of the white cloth, and the
various things upon it, but Tom was not in sight.

"Maybe--maybe an alligator ate him!" said Grace. She was half-crying
now.

"Don't be silly!" directed Betty in a stern tone. It was sometimes
necessary to be severe with Grace when she was likely to give way to her
feelings. But in this case Betty did not want to be too much so, for she
realized all that her chum had suffered in the disappearance of her
brother.

The two big alligators, and they were exceptionally large, so the girls
said afterward, seemed to have taken permanent possession of the narrow
neck of land that connected the peninsula with the main shore. T