Chapter VIMr. Scratchetty-ClawChapter 6 header
Chapter 6 header
Floatingon the water, so near the raft that he could have touched it, Nibbles saw a huge animal covered with brown scales. It had small black eyes, and a long tail, while its head was mostly made up of a very long nose, and a huge mouth full of sharp teeth.
“Hullo!” said the Animal, “I thought you were never coming up.What kept you so long under the water?”
Poor Nibbles was dripping wet, covered with sand, and still gasping for breath, but he tried to answer politely:
“I could not come up any sooner, Sir, because my head was stuck in the sand. Will you please tell me what you are? I thought you were a landing place.”
“No, no,” replied the Animal, “my name is Scratchetty-Claw, and I am an Alligator of a very fine old family. I have lived in this river for a hundred years, and I probably shall live a thousand. I am verysorry that I upset you, but I thought a fly had lighted on my back, so I swished my tail, and I am afraid that you rolled off.”
“I certainly did,” said Nibbles sadly, as he tried to wipe the sand out of his eyes and ears.
Alligator, Nibbles and Teenie Weenie
Suddenly Mr. Scratchetty-Claw opened his eyes very wide, and staring at Nibbles, he shouted:
“Why,whathave you got around your neck?”
Nibbles put up his paw, and, sure enough, there was something which felt like a ring. How it came there he could not imagine, but he must have pushed his head through it while he was floundering in the sand at the bottom of the river.
Ring on Nibbles' head'
Teenie Weenie helped him pull it off, and when they had brushed the sand away, they found that it was a gold ring, beautifully carved, and set with diamonds and rubies.
“That must surely be the Lucky Ring of the foreign Prince, whoowns all this part of the country,” said the Alligator. “He lost it one day last summer, while out sailing, and nobody was able to find it. The Prince offered a big reward for its recovery, as he prized the ring more than anything he owned.”
“Then we must take it to him as soon as we can,” said Nibbles.
Alligator leading raft