There was an alligator that met its end suddenly at the business end of a 22 inch cutlass wielded by a cane cutter fighting for life and limb. Even though the cane cutter lost half the battle that day, no one felt that there was any shame in this, and all who knew the story gave him much respect and celebrated his name in song and story for his valiant deed; and his missing leg was a badge of honor. This was good for a time, as these things go.
Then reports began to come in and spread around about a gashed up, slashed up, chopped up alligator wandering along Canal Road, coming from the direction of the cane fields, its head turning here and there and about as in a hunt for prey. Now, an alligator wandering along Canal Road would be a strange and terrifying sight under normal circumstances, as it wasn't the type of thing that most people expected to see on a peaceful evening walk. And so it caused more than the usual stir as details of the alligator sightings made the rounds quickly through the usual sources who could be counted on to spread news about quickly.
The reports came in with all sorts of conflicting details. One had it that the alligator lacked solid form, while another had it that a huge rock pelted at it simply bounced off its thick, indestructible hide. And a third report had it fading in and out of sight. But the sightings were at least consistent as to one thing: The alligator had gashes and slashes everyplace from being chopped up by the cane cutter, and even across one eye, and its huge mouth was bared in a permanent, sinister, smile, made all the more awful because hanging from one corner of its huge mouth was a human leg.
The alligator would run up, quick time, on this person or that; and, after tilting its awful head and looking, would run off again.
The usual consultations were had as to the unusual goings on of all this, and the advice given was consistent enough: The thing was after the cane cutter, and it was clear that he had to go face it again, even on the crutch that he now hobbled around on in place of his missing leg; and presumably he could still wield his cutlass; and presumably he would have to just finish the job and dispatch the jumbie alligator finally and fully to the hereafter.
So, the cane cutter sharpened his cutlass; and he put on his best suit, with the one pants leg clipped up, and it seemed just right to wear his best suit to the battle, maybe because everything else was out of the ordinary anyway. Besides, he at least had to think carefully about the effectiveness of a twenty-two against a jumbie alligator, even if no one else gave it more than a passing thought, and it would not do to risk that he might meet his maker other than wearing his best. His shirt was starched and crisp, his suit pressed, and his shoe, and crutch, polished. He was ready to face the jumbie alligator in second mortal combat.
The cane cutter waited until dusk, and then he set off, mostly hobbling and sometimes hopping along Canal Road in the direction of the cane fields, and looking about here and there for his nemesis; and it wasn't before long that he saw the jumbie alligator running up to him in full sinister regalia of slashes and gashes and with the cane cutter’s own lost leg hanging at the corner of a huge mouth, with bared, smiling teeth. And, as the cane cutter balanced himself on his crutch, and set his jaw and teeth firm, and set his twenty-two for action, the jumbie alligator showed a glimmer in its one good eye, even as it seemed to peer also from the other, gashed eye. And it opened its permanent smile of horror, tossed its gashed up head in the direction of the cane cutter, and laid the cane cutter's lost leg from the corner of its mouth at the cane cutter’s foot and crutch.
The alligator then backed away, turned away, ran away, then faded away.
When asked, the cane cutter never was too clear in discussing the episode, and he moved away very quickly from the area. This was for the good, as the fact that even with a good outcome, the whole thing was worrisome and upsetting to many, even if most were inclined to ignore the fact that the cane cutter now walked around normally on two legs.
It just goes to show, sometimes there's no fight to fight . . . and even a jumbie alligator knows when to move on to the next thing.
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