New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-07-15

TIC WOTIS OHVtF IIP tJfilItheUSaNe Litles Of
ss betes ft5efiSes" They vainiy threatened him
with manifestations Of their potent dspleasnre
he would laughingy rerly, If you bring the
charbon among my cattle tomorrow, and cure |
my wife Of her scoIding propen sites, VIII be- |
lieve every word you say
In pursuance with yearly custom he visited
the Gulf shore one autumn for the purpose 6i
hunting and fishing, but old age had brought
with it such an increase Of corpulence that ne
was compelled to take with him an assistant III
the person Of Catalenian--solemn, super'h-
tious and vndictivc 4 more uncongenlal com
panion the nirth loving old lnan cAnld not nave
.hosen. but at last, from the pecpllartics W9ich
at first excited his impl:ieHce, he contriT-i 10
extract an unfailipg find u a'nu-eneh'--o!
amusement. too, adaptci to his peculiar tast-
Herclatel to the cred leus SlluipTi III tie mos
eGtrao1dinarv events winch hal occurred at tne
place to which they were hound TIC great
h3od which had wept Of all the lnhantaht-'
whose voices we're heard AZ midnight On the an
niyersary If their deaths, moaning prouut their
homesteads and petitioning .he stranger for
christian burial. He tol1 him also Of the pirate
Johnson who, stained with the most attrDcl1us
crimes, had chosen residence on a wild and
uninhabited part Of the coast, there dug his
grave, and when he found death approaching
had rolled himself into it, and his bleached
| skeleton was found years afterwards with TIE
fingers clasped and raised towards heaven, as II
imploring that mercy which in life he had never
shown
With these an similar tales the tedluul OF
their voyage was beguiled, and L Amrand
chuckled inwardly at tn feet they produced
upon the Spaniard, who, with staring eyes, sat
in trembling silence, only nterrupting the mar
rator by extravagant calculations Uf horror
. He regretted from the bottom OF his soul having
undertaken u journey which would bring him
to the theatre Of these awful events, and per-
haps intllct upon him vistations Of a nature
| which he had dreaded and avoided all lis life
When the boat touched the shore he threw a
terrified glance around as if he expected the
musquite bushes to disclose some extraordinary
spectre but, as if to confirm his fears, they
had hardly proceeded ten PAGES towards the
camp when they beheld at their feet human
skull which had been swept in by the tide.
"Ah, vola,' cried L'Amirand g camarade,
here is one Of your countrymen, see how grave
and silent be is. So saying, he irreverently
kicked the skull towards his companion, who
sunk on his knees and offered to every saint in
the calendar petitions tor the repose of the soul
whose unquiet tenement had not even found rest
at the bottom of the sea.
LAmirand stood at little distance enjoying
. the dlsmay and genuhuciions of his companion
, when an idea struck him which he hastened to
{ put in execution He ordered the Spaniard to
point Of land at some little distance, from
hI4eHCt He ann lutu ne (Oull see am uCStTOy
' more game than on any other spot on the coast
I With some reluctance the man obeyed, and no
sooner had he turned his back than l. smirand
seized the skull, which be carried to his camp,
4 and with the help Of long pole, a sheet, and
g some pine splinters, arranged very respecta-
h Bile apparatus Of terror When he had COM
pleted his preparations, he placed the spectre in
+ a conspicuous place and imposing attitude, and
q sauntered off TO reioin the Spaniard, to whom
he excused his delay by mentioning the trouble
k he had found in securing his boat on the mGrshy
A bank
h 1t was dark when they returned to camp, ant
# LAmirand purposely drew back in order t,
r. give the Spaniard the advantage of the frs
sc look at the ghastly spectacle. No sooner did i
3 meet his eye than with an appalling shrek h
rs fell PROSTATE to the ground in strong convul
;e sions. He was raised by the old man, who nov
deeply regretted the unfortunate consequenc
a Of his practical Joke, and who now attempted t
ts soothc his victim by relation of the means h
, had employed 70 produce the illusion.
D. ''You will be accursed for this impious deed, ,
l. said the Spaniard, solemnly. " The vengeanc
Of the dead is terrible it will pursue you stand
lie ing or sitting, sleeping or walking, and as yo
ct have desecrated these remains so will your ow
es skull be denied Christian burial, and kicke
re like football by every passer-by"
re There something decidedly unpleasant j
A. this last maledc for, although a skeptit
of L'Amirand had not yet arrived at that point
philosophical Indifference which could conten
It's plate with Sang troid such n contemptuor
ed treatment of the seat of reason He tried
p laugh off the whole affair, and by degrees h
ng companion seemed to have forgotten the tran
er action They remained for few days only
ey the Gulf, and on their return home, L'Amirar
re avoided all mention Of the subject to his wife
in children, for he knew their censure and loqu'
We city would know no hounds and, to tell IL
We truth, lie began to think the story did not RI
douud much TO his own credit The Spauiar,
en- whom he had engaged as a laborer ON the fam
Oh was also silent, FOL reasons best known to hin
m self
eli, One dark, cold and rainy night few weel
te after his return home, l. Amirand, on his r.
his turn from the we'll, was thrown on the groul
his by ar invisible hand, drenchel with waite
IS rolled in the mud, and severely beaten th
eh It WIS with difficulty he could reach the hous
en-, None could imagine who had been guilty Of til
a assault for, with the exception Of the conjureI
lal his natural enemies, the Old man was general
,ry beloved They too We're not in the parish, ~
itv although he looked rnefully at the Spaniard I
of concern expressed by the latter dsarmed /
lal suspicious Moreover, he had been the first
ar. meet him at the door on that memorable nigh
te- Groaning in body and spirit, the old man la
he down on his bed, but about midnight he "
ich pulled violently Oh the floor, and the same il
ith visible hand bestowed so many twitches al
by PITCHES upon his face that his cries soon arous
Use the household When lights were brought not
her ing was to be seen but the visible marks OF t
| OF intruder's fingers on his bruised and angry VI
Oh age and his poor wife in the last stage OF te
er, ror, who had concealed herself under the b
clothes during the engagement
ers This scene was but the commencement of
the series OF petty prosecutions, which seemed to
has pursued regularly and Systematically, and
am last included the whole family in their uper
ice tions Their clothes were burned, their nos
it tweakel, their hair pulled, stones thrown
full them from mysterious hands, strange whispt
i've ings heard in their ears, and every morning t
uu, most doletul and haggard faces assembled at t
no. breakfast table to hrNr and relate the anne
lrs, ances of the past night
you LAmrand could bear it no longer from
hi corpulent jolly old man, he had DIV ,ndled aw
far to shadow Of his former self his wife, equa
in. corpulent and equally jolly, was in the sal
on predicament; his daughters beauty was spoil,
us and his sons were afraid to move step in
'ui- dark. He assembled a council Of his neighbo
He who immediately proposed keeping vigil VI
the them that night to discover the cause OF the n
nal, turnal visitation, At the head OF these b,
sla- spirits was pompous dietatorial Creole, "
its expressed loudly his opinion that it was all nj
rely sense the effects Of Imagination, and if tn
un- was anything in it he was the man to tnd it o
lscs Towards midnight, however, his loquacity
} be serted him, aud he was seen covering aroU