AN AWFUL ADVENTURE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2707, 16 November 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

AN AWFUL ADVENTURE.

A famii.v namiid Lambert, living on Lake Charles Apopka or Tsala Lake as it is called, repot ts a thrilling adventure, says the Los Angeles Express. The family consists of Mr and Mrs Lambert ami three children, two boys and a girl baby, the boys being S and 15 respectively and the girl just able to toddle about. They moved there about two years ago. The house is built about 200 feet from the lake and on a slight elevation, the land in front sloping down gradually to the waters' edge. At the left, off some little distauee, is an immense sawgress pond. Near this Mr Lambert bniit an enclosure for his pigs, one side facing the lake, and up to a mouth ago had a magnificent lot of porkers. One night several weeks ago he heard a tremendous uproar in his hog pen, and hurrying ont with his shotgun and lantern, he was just in time to see one of his fine hogs disappear in the lake in the mouth of a huge alligator, while the scores of balls of fire seen glittering in the darkness on the lake showed the presence of others. From that beginning their inroads were kept up with grept regularity, and though he killed a dozen or more the pork was too nice for them to relinquish their feeding ground. Lately, they have grown so bold as to crawl in his yard in the daytime and the predatory raids of these marauders on his hogs and fowls have rendered Mr Lambert's life a burden. A recent adventure, however, of two members of his family with one of these dreadful creatures has so terrified the farmer that he seriously contemplates abandoning his place. Oue Saturday afternoon, a short time ago, Mrs Lambert, who was in the back part of the house, was attracted by the screams of her* little girl and cries of " Mamma ! mamma!" Hurrying to the front of the house she could not locate the little one's whereabouts, but her piercing screams continued, and the almost frantic mother soon discovered the flutter of her child's dress near the lake shore, the palmetto bushes nearly biding her from view. Snatching up an axe from a woodpile, she flew to the water's edge, and, as she rounded tho palmetto patch, a sight burst upon her which nearly drove her crazy. On the edge of the bank, with its body half in tke water, was a huge alligator, its forepaws outstretched, raising it from the ground, while its tail lashed the water into foam. Just in front of it and clinging to a palmetto root with her tiny hands for dear life was the little girl, her dress being held in tho jaws of the alligator, who was slowly dragging the child. Tho nlligator's dull eyes gleamed with anger, like red coals of fire, and when Mrs Lambert appeared the monster uttered a hoarse bellow and started backward, tearing loose the child's alight hold. The hitter's infantile features were drawn into an agonised appeal, and as the animal dragged her down she was too paralysed with fear to even cry out. The peril of her baby banished all fear from Mrs Lambert, aud she rushed up and hit the monitor over the head with tho axe, and seizing the child with both hands tried to pull her away. The sharp blade cut into the alligator's eye, and mad with pain he opened his jaw and half sprang at the woman. This left the child free, and they both fell backward. Mrs Lambert said afterwards that at this moment she never expected to save her life. As she fell the alligator swung around his tail with a terrible sounding whish, but the fortunate fall of the two just placed them outside its deadly sweep. The alligator advanced as far as it could with its unwieldly waddle, and Mrs Lambert attempted to rise and escape. Her dress caught on a root, and before she could get up and free herself the alligator made a suap at her and missed, catching hold of her dress instead. Finding that it had secured something, it commenced backing toward the water, dragging along the prostrate woman, who now fully realised her peril and filled the air with her cries for help. She frantically clutched at the roots as she was dragged over them, but her dress was of stout matorial, and the alligator's strength soon overcame ber feeblo resistance. Suddenly, with a heavy sinking of the heart, sho felt that her foot was in the water, and that if no help came she was doomed to a terrible death. The horror gave her strength for a moment, aud she made another frantic effort to free herself, but it was in vain, and she felt suddenly drawn into the water. Suddenly her hands, which were nervously clutching at everything that seemed to promise support, passed over the axe-han-dle. With the swiftness of thought and with superhuman energy she seized the helve and scrambled up, and, how she cannot say, she managed to deal the 'gator a heavy blow with the blade. With rare good fortune it struck the other eye and crashed into his head. The maddened and wounded reptilo opened its jaws with a roar of pain and rage, and Mrs Lambert's dress slipped off his largo teeth. Scrambling up she seized her baby girl and flew wildly to the house aud fell on the floor in a dead faint. Her husband on returning homo at night found ber there uuoousoious, with the child patting her mother's cheek trying in her baby way to arouse her.