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Show An Unpleasant Encounter <br><br> Of all perilous places for night-traveling, we should think a Florida pond or river would be the last to choose. And yet the old inhabitants seem to take it coolly enough. The Jasper Times, of that State, reports a specimen adventure of such night-wading, in which a man, a mule and an alligator got badly mixed up. <br><br> "One night last August, about eleven o'clock," says Mr. John Ellis, "as I was riding a mule from White Springs to Jasper and when passing through a pond where the water is about two feet deep, I encountered a huge alligator. <br><br> "Of course I could not see him until getting close upon him, when he raised himself, and with one sweep of his tail, the mule was thrown on his broad-side. <br><br> "Fortunately for me, I fell on the off side from the ‘gator, completely enveloped in mud and water. Before the mule could rise, another sweep of the monster's tail passed over him, striking the water near me, throwing up high in the air at least a barrel of water. <br><br> "Before he made the third strike, the mule recovered, and by his surging and jumping, having hold of the bridle, fortunately for me again, my foot being in the stirrup, I was jerked beyond the reach of that terrible tail, which was once more aimed at us. <br><br> "The animal must have been not less than eight feet long and large in proportion. In the melee I lost my overcoat and umbrella, and having no weapons, politely informed Mr. ‘Gator that I would not contend for the articles, and left them in his possession." |