How the Smuggler Adventures Begin!

Pete the Alligator had his very own private lagoon. He was very protective of his lagoon, and his favorite pastime was exterminating those creatures who dared to enter his lagoon. In other words, Pete was no guy to mess around with.

One day, Pete was lolling around on the muddy banks of his very own private lagoon when a pirate ship appeared unexpectedly. Pete got very angry and said, "Who dares to disturb the privacy of my lagoon?" Of course no one on board the ship understood him because they didn't understand alligator talk. So Pete got madder still. This time he roared. "WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE PRIVACY OF MY LAGOON?" growled the enraged alligator. And this time he got results, because by this time he was crouched on the stern of the ship. Everyone on board jumped overboard. At least, Pete thought everyone on board jumped overboard.

Pete immediately grabbed the rudder and crowed, "I dub myself captain of the ship. I will call myself Pete the Pirate. And, since ther's no one here who can tell me other than what I am about to proceed to say, I will now officially call this ship Pirate Pete's Pickle."

With that, Pete looked through the spyglass to see if anyone was around who wanted to fight. But the spyglass was obviously broken, because the image was marred by little strands of broken glass. The broken glass looked like the strands of a net. In fact, it looked exactly as if someone had covered it with a net! Pete removed the spyglass from his eye and looked around. Oops....

Pete had been captured by a green ugly-looking thing that looked somewhat like an elephant. The elephant's means of capture, a strong steel net, was surrounding Pete on four sides. There was a strange devilish grin on the elephant's face. Pete was about to let out a horrifying bellow of rage when--

"Okay, buddy, kindly remove your net and step to the side of the ship. I've got you covered." Behind the immense figure of the elephant was the profile of another alligator. He was brandishing something that looked mysteriously like a gun.

The elephant quivered, then did as it was told. "Now, jump over the side. You'd best do it now before we embark on our long sea voyage." The elephant started to turn around angrily, and the mysterious alligator fired a warning shot. "Do as you're told." The elephant departed over the side of the vessel.

Then the mysterious alligator turned to greet our hero, Pete. "Wh--who are you?" Pete stammered. "You saved my life. I owe my very life to you!"

"That's just what I hoped you'd say!" the other alligator replied. "However, I only ask one favor. Here, shake. My name is Sam."

"And, pray tell, what may that one favor be?" inquired Pete, as he shoot Sam's paw.

"That you help me with my little business. Here, I'll show you." Sam retreated to the captain's quarters, and Pete followed. On the door of the small room was a foreboding sign that read Sam's Smuggling Corp.

"As you can see," Sam began, "I've started a smuggling corporation. You've just scared away my crew, but no matter. They were all scaredy-lizards anyway. I need some courageious reptiles, like you."

Pete thought a minute. Then he said, "I will join on one condition. And that condition is this; that we change the name of your corporation to The Alligator Smugglers."

"Fair enough," said Sam. "And I will remain president."

So it was settled. Pete cast off the anchor, and the two happy alligators began the first meeting of their two-alligator corporation, The Alligator Smugglers.

"So what do we smuggle?" asked Pete.

"Oh...just about anything," replied Sam.

"Anything? How about something with a little more challenge than 'anything?'"

"Would you prefer we smuggled dark blue alligators with purple polka dots?"

"Yeah...well mayble that's too hard. How about just blue alligators?"

"You're crazier than a doorknob. But we can try it."

"Great! Now how about a name for this ship? I've just dubbed it Pirate Pete's Pickle."

"I don't really like it. How about--"

CRASH!

Pete and Sam rushed up on deck to find their ship run aground and in two huge pieces. "Oh, well," remarked Sam, "it didn't really need a name anyway."

"And I feel safer on land," continued Pete. "Let's build a smuggling outfit right here."

This is how the corporation of the Alligator Smugglers got started. If you would like to read more, just turn the page.

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