Those in charge of the goats dared not
interfere, lest the monster, deprived of its accustomed food, might
seek its dinner among the ruined stone houses in which the islanders
lived.
Now I noticed that the road along which the crocodile travelled to the
water was very deeply furrowed, thus proving how the great lizard had
repeatedly dragged its heavy bulk over the same spot on its way to
drink at the stream, and I bethought me of a plan to deal with the
reptile. The only weapon I had upon me when kidnapped from my ship was
a short sabre or manchette, which I wore as a sidearm. But this I hoped
would prove a formidable weapon when put to the use for which I now
intended it.
During the morning of the next day, when we knew that the crocodile
would be asleep in his cave, Sylvia and I went together to the road
which the reptile had made, by the weight of his body, to his usual
watering-place.
Here, with such rude implements as the islanders possessed, we dug a
trench the width of the road, and for some distance along it. At the
bottom of the trench we laid a stout log, in which was firmly fixed my
manchette, its sharp point upward. We then filled up the trench with
soft sand, and retired to the place of vantage which I had occupied the
previous day, and from which we could see the crocodile make his
evening raid.
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