nuts.

Soon Curly had quite a pile of them by an old stump, and the monkey
had built a hot fire.

"Now, we will roast the chestnuts," spoke Jacko, and he put several
pawsful on the hot coals.

"And when will they be roasted?" asked Curly.

"Soon," answered the monkey. "We will have a game of tag while we
are waiting."

And, all of a sudden, as they were playing tag, out from under a big
flat stone, came the bad skillery-scalery alligator, with a tin horn
on his back. Oh! but he was a bad fellow!

"Ah, ha!" he cried. "Now I have you! Now I will have a piggie boy to
eat and a monkey boy to wait on the table. Come along, both of you!"
and the bad alligator made a grab for the two friends and was about
to carry them off to his den.

"Oh, please let me go!" begged Curly.

"Yes do!" asked the monkey. "Let us go."

"No! No!" snapped the alligator. And just then there sounded this
noise:

"Bang! Bang! Snap! Crack! Bang! Boom!"