The crocodile talked, much to the surprise of the trapper, who took him home as his companion. There they discussed their dreams, which included things like owning a farm and sneaking into the penguin pool at the zoo.

"To complete the set, you need a banana," she said to her guest, "but some clumsy fool dropped ours." Her husband, sitting nearby, slouched further behind his open newspaper and wept quietly to himself.

"How can a riverboat not be a casino?" he asked aloud as he and the kitchen staff shot street craps aboard the dinner cruise.