has happened?"

"Oh, 'twuzn't nuthin' wot occurred lately."

"To what do you refer then?" asked the perplexed sheriff.

"A leetle incident wot happened ter me when I wuz aboard o' the ole
frigate Wabash in ther navy."

"Indeed! Was you in the navy?"

"A good many years, sir. Whar else did I git this leg blowed off?"

"You was just going to mention something that happened."

"Ay, ay. So I wuz. Yer see, it happened this way. We wuz a coastin'
through ther Red Sea one brilln' arternoon, watchin' ther monkeys an'
crocodiles on ther Arabian shore when all at onct I noticed a queer
yaller-redness in ther sky on ther Afriky shore. It wuz caused by a
simoom. Great clouds o' sand, driv' by the wind, wuz a-rushin' acrost
ther desert toward ther ship, an' as it came out toward us, we seed we
wuz doomed."

"You were in a mighty tight box," observed the sheriff, interestedly.

"Keel haul me if we wuzn't," agreed Tim, with a nod. "Waal, sir, we
knowed that ther minute them ere clouds o' red-hot sand came down on
ther ship, it would bury us an' bake us ter death. All my messmates wuz
skeered ter death, an' droppin' down upon thar marrer bones about ther
deck, they begun ter pray like sons of guns. Did I give away ter ther
general panic? Not much.

"Cause why? I'll tell yer. A way ter save ther ship an' crew occured ter
me. Wot wuz it? Yer'll see. Yer know as crocodiles is reckoned ther
fastest swimmers in ther water. Waal, sir, as soon as I seed that ere
storm abarin' down on us I knowed as our only chance to save ourselves
laid in runnin' away from it. Now thar wuzn't wind enough for ther sails
ter do it, so wot does I do but gits a rope; then I jumped overboard
right in ther midst o' them crocodiles. Afore yer could count ten I made
a slipnoose fast about ther necks o' forty o' them animiles, got back
aboard the frigate an' tied ther other and o' ther line ter the capstan.
Then I took a spear an' cllmbin' out on ther bowsprit I began ter jab
'em an' away they went, pullin' ther frigate along like greased
lightning---"

"Say, Tim---"

"I ain't done yet---"

"But I tell you---"

"Awarst thar! As I wuz asayin' along we went like fury, ther simoon
chasing arter us. It wuz a terrible race an' I yelled and poked at them
ere crocodiles like mad.

"In a few moments we wuz makin' eighty knots an hour, an' I noticed as
we wuz pullin' away from that ere storm werry stiddy, ontil at last we
lef it astarn, an' ther ship wuz