It was Jimmie's voice. It roused Mollie from the momentary paralysis that had seized her at sight of the on-coming horror. She sprang for the bough and struggled to pull herself and little Doris upward. Never in her recollection had Mollie been conscious of such over-powering weakness. She was shaking from head to foot. It seemed she would fall before she succeeded finally in getting herself beyond the reach of those yawning, murderous jaws, up-stretched toward her naked feet. "Git up--git up! Set clost. Hol' on tight," she managed to articulate to the wide-eyed, frightened children. "Lawsey, I dunno whut hit air." "W-w-will hit come--u-u-up hyar?" wailed Leathy, tears rolling over her mud-stained cheeks. Mollie steadied herself with her hands clutching the tree limb and looked down. The giant shape was moving about in the muddy water. It seemed to have a tail. It did not look as if it could climb. But even as she looked, the fearsome thing reared its grisly head and extended its jaws again with terrible menace. Mollie shuddered but did not cry out. The creature was directly underneath. It floundered. It lashed the mud with its whole body. Was it the devil coming right up out of the pit to confront them and prevent their escape? Cold chills crept over the courageous little girl. Still she did not lose her nerve entirely. It was the shock and lack of knowledge that disturbed her. She had not expected to encounter wild beasts and gigantic creatures, the existence of which she had never even dreamed. True, she was frightened--terribly frightened. But not for herself. Never once did the little heroine think of herself. It was of the baby strapped to her back and the dozen small children tied to a rope behind her. The sense of responsibility weighed upon her. She had led the children forth into the swamps. If any evil befell them there she would be to blame. They had trusted her. She must not fail them. Johnnie lifted his crutch. "Shall I lam 'im?" he asked, somewhat nervously. "No--Oh, lawsey, no!" cried Mollie. "Doan rile 'im more'n he is. Hit cain't climb. Hit's too big." The muddy water ahead commenced to churn furiously. From out it another black bulk became visible. Another and another followed. It was like one long, endless serpent making voluminous convulsions and creeping steadily onward in the direction of the children, hanging precariously to the limb of that mangrove tree. If it should break-- Again they screamed and clung to one another. This horror was beyond anything their childish imaginations had ever conjured.