St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-09-20
THE PILOTS STORY.

eUAAAAS 0oAA0 AVA VIZ AAVOvJ AOAo VI CAO
Widely stunning the snags that made us sar-
donic obeisance.
All the soft, damp air was full Of delicate per-
From the young willows in bloom on either
bank Of the river
Faint, delicate fragrance, trancing the indolent
senses
In a luxurious dream of the river and land of
the lotus.
Not yet out of the west the roses of sunset
were withered
In the deep blue above light clouds of gold
and of crimson
Floated in slumber serene, and the restless riv-
er beneath them
Rushed away to the sea with vision Of rest in
its bosom.
Far on the eastern shore lay dimly the swamps
of the cypress;
Dimly before us the islands grew from the riv-
er's expanses- y.
Beautiful, wood-grown isles-with the gleam
Of the swart inundation
Seen through the swaying boughs and slender
trunks eff their willows;
And on the shore beside US the cotton-trees
rose in the evening,
Phantom-like, yearningly, YEARLY, with the
OF the mute race Of trees. While hoarsely the
steam from her 'scapc-pipes
Shouted, then whispered a moment, then
shouted again to the silence,
Trembling through all her frame with the
mighty pulse Of her engines,
Slowly the boat ascended the swollen and broad
Mississippi,
Bank-full, sweeping on, with nearing masses
of driftwood,
Daintily breathed about with hazes Of silve1y
vapor,
Where in his asroyy flight the twittering swal-
And the belated blackbird paused on the way
to its nestlings.
It was the pilots story: ''They both came
aboard there, at Cairo,
From New Orleans boat, and took passage
with us for Saint Louis.
She was beautiful woman, with just enough
blood from her mother,
Darkening her eyes and her hair, to make her
race known to trader;
You would have thought she was white. The
man that was with her--you see such
Weakly good-natured and kind, and weakly
good-natured and vicious,
Slender Of body and soul, fit neither for loving
nor hating.
was youngster then, and only learning the
river
Not oyer-fond Of the wheel. used to watch
them at monte,
Down in the cabin at night, and learned to
know all the gamblers.
So when saw this weak one stalking his mon
ey against them,
Betting upon the turn Of the cards, knew
what was coming:
They never left their pigeons single feather
to fly with. 80
Next day saw them together-the stranger
and one of the gamblers:
Picturesque rascal he was, with long black hair
and mustaches,
Black slouch hat drawn down to his eyes from
his villanous forehead:
On together they moved, still earnestly talking
in whispers,
On toward the forecastle, where sat the woman
alone by the gangway.
Reused by the fall of feet, she turned, and, be-
holding her master,
Greeted him with a smile that was more like
wife's than anothes's,
Rose to meet him fondly, and then, with the
dread apprehension
Always haunting the slave, fell her eyes on the
face of the gambler, ..
w. less cunning. IT,: ~ s.. 49,,
hear what the words were;
Only the woman started, and looked from one
- '.- to the other, ''-
With imploring eyes, bewildered hands, and a
j tremor :. 80 r:.. Z. =.
All through her frame: saw her from where
was standing, she shook so.
Say is it SO ? she cried. On the weak, white
lips Of her master e.
Died sickly smile, and he said-sLouise,
have sold you.' -. .:.::.:
God is my Judge! May never see such
Desolate anguish, as that which the woman
cast on her master,
Gripping her breast with her, little hands, as if
he had stabbed her,
Standing in silence space, as fixed as the In
dian woman, .':1 '.I' '
Carved cut of wood, on the pilot house Of the
...:; old Pocahontas! I1.~: 5al,
Then, with q gurgling moan, like the sound in
the throat Of the dying, = ..f.... ..
Came back her voice, that, rising, duttered,
through wild indifference, '''' :.
into . terrible shrek that stopped my heart
while she answered: '@* '''' y
| Sold me ? sold me sold-And you promised
to give me my freedom - ''s'"' .. <.;|
Promised me, for the sake Of our little boy in
Saint Louis 49,. = '1''
What. will you say to our boy, when he cries
- !: for me there in Saint Louis :. ~. s>'
What will you say to our God !-Ah, you have
1: been joking! I1see it, -..s't =,
No? God God! He shall hear it-and all Of
tz'I'7 the angels in heaven -''~,<1a2 .=' ~ :;
Even the devils in hell! land none will believe
#*2@ when they hear il! !'&2 +, @2H" .@'zT .
IISold me Fell her voice with / thrilling wall,
% and III silence ~4' >-1.A' = :@ais&T s'T',
Down she sank on the deck, and covered her
81 80 face With her fingers ~" |sS:% 9liA
i 12lo2G3 @7>1iT 51}l1v. &; 1-5222a.: .n23Gtl
In his story moment the spi]ot paused whila