"Then there was another fellow we had to watch out for, a queer
fellow whom we never see anywhere but down there. It was never safe
to swim too near an old log floating in the water or lying on the
bank, because it might suddenly open a great mouth and swallow one
of us whole."
"What's that?" Peter Rabbit leaned forward and stared at Mrs. Quack
with his eyes popping right out. "What's that?" he repeated. "How
can an old log have a mouth?"
Mrs. Quack just had to smile, Peter was so in earnest and looked
so astonished.
"Of course," said she, "no really truly log has a mouth or is alive,
but this queer fellow I was speaking of looks so much like an old
log floating in the water unless you look at him very sharply,
that many a heedless young Duck has discovered the difference when
it was too late. Then, too, he will swim under water and come up
underneath and seize you without any warning. He has the biggest
mouth I've ever seen, with terrible-looking teeth, and could swallow
me whole."
[Illustration with caption: "Some folks call him Alligator and some
just 'Gator."]
By this time Peter's eyes looked as if they would fall out of his
head. "What is his name?" whispered Peter.
"It's Old Ally the 'Gator," replied Mrs. Quack. "Some folks call
him Alligator and some just 'Gator, but we call him Old Ally. He's a
very interesting old fellow. Some time perhaps I'll tell you more
about him. Mr. Quack and I kept out of his reach, you may be sure.
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