Chapter 16-18 Summary

n Beau begins the story of his encounter with old man alligator. Beau and his father had been trapping when they saw a boat of young teenage kids going down the river. Beau and his father knew that the kids shouldn't go down that way, but the kids were drinking and somehow made it through the treacherous waters to old man alligator's territory. Beau explains that old man alligator doesn't kill for territory or for food or even because it is threatened. Old man alligator kills because it wants to kill and because it enjoys to take life. When the boat of teenagers didn't come back, Beau and his father went to check on the kids. When Beau and his father got close enough they could smell the stench of rotten meat. When they got close enough they could hear the...