The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1881-08-27

".v"C' lCk Ill U0y m not 'Change WOrtt
ith nobody, they say. Seems kinder in a
T urea er study, 81. else crazy, er somcthin'.
h Mvn' ,, sPose we 20 home.. No use standi'
"hoid on bit, you! What's yer hurry"
SAID the old fisherman. "Seems ter me It we
orter kinder hang around a whie-here IN
gown shore Tong. We might be IN the way
" glvin' 'sistance, u any's needed. Don't
Know, NV course, what might happen"
,, yes, that's good idea, 'chimed in the
landlord. "Or, suppose one Of you remains
OUT, 10 watch and listen. and the others 90
IN with me and sit by the fire. It's disagree
ap'e out mere. You can take turns watch.
ing, you Know Thus speaking he turned
TO 20. while the others, in accordance, with
MS suggestion, decided who among them
should take the first watch, and then will.
ingly followed. ...
The - Hotel had no bar, and Mr.. Smith,
the landlord, did not encourage lOafng, but
ne could be hospitable and social. even with
the rough, unlettered fishers and oysternen
VINO composed the main part of the inhabit-
ants Of the little .of.the-way village In
which-cOming in with the new railroad-he
had lately established himself; and so he
rep!enished his fire, and handed round CT.
CARS, and babe them make themselves com.
Portable.
Two hours passed, and they still fingered,
l0ath to 60 without some inkling Of the sue
cess or failure Of the rescuing party; but
when another hour was gone and nothing
came OF it, they slowed" there was no use
waiting longer. "Cap'n Put" was all right,
wherever he was; and probably they were
all across the river, where the stranger and
the Captain would stay until morning rather
than recrOss. They could easily find supper
and lodging with some Of the fishermen or
farmers over there. ~
''Talkin' nv comm back said one.
"twouldn't be no fun, that wouldn't. 'T'ud
be good many times worse N goin' over
They'd be fools ter tempt it. come ter think,
once over there" So they dispersed to their
homes, their long.neglected suppers, and
their beds; and the landlord Of the - Ho-
tel, after another hour, fastened his doors,
put out his lights. and consigned himself to
the kindly ministrations Of Morpheus.
Captain Put, will explain here. was what
people called "Queer CHIP" and one OF the
turns his queerness took was dislike to be.
ing questioned. No one told startling bit
of news with greater evident relish than he,
so long as you took it quietly and allowed no
undue curiosity to manifest itself either in
YOUR words or looks. If you did, particu-
larly if you began asking questions, it was
all over; he would shu up like clam, and
You might consume With cufiosity before he
would open his lips upon the subject again,
so long as he saw that you were waiti,fg.apd
hoping he would. A few who understood
him well had way OF 0utgeneraling him
when they had partial knowledge of the
news in question. which was TO make q pre-.
tense of telling him the incident, filling in
the links to suit themselves, taking care to
make them wide of the mark and rs imprOb-
able as they could we'll be, when, ten to one,
before they were half through with their re-
cital, the Captain, quite OF his guard in his
impotence and disgust. would snatch the
story from their lips and tell It himself, ,ln-
heedful of the grin OF satisfaction upon the
faces Of his listeners.
It was barely broad daylight on the morn
ing following the incident just rel%ted,
when The Rat came running around the cor.
ner near the landing, the first on the ground
in purs uit Of news. His sharp eyes took a
rapid survey Of the river, mp, down, and in
front, and were rewarded by the sight OF a
row boat, crossing. evidently. from the other
shore and making for the landing. The wind
had fallen somewhat during the night, but
the river was still rough, and rowing. was
laboriOus work. even to an experienced
hand. ...-. ,...t.y.- ~ III ...,..-...i
Put, m 'e's alone! What's that mean? Hone
ter gracious that nice. han'some gen'lm'n
amt drownded., 'TaiRt all on 'em !
throws out their silver quarters g q does"
Ere many minutes had passed several men
of the last nights party, the landlord among
them, all % eager for news as the boy, had
gathered at the little landing place, awaiting
the arrival of the approaching boat. a-
!" How are ye. ,Cap'nW "uad rough
time, ireckonS'' whats the news?''
sswhere's your mates" Chow dye make
out: ~ were some of the questions with which
quite natural without doubt. but injpdi-
cio,,s under the circumstances. He drew his
boat carefully UP on the sand, bestowed a
good deal Of care upon the proper disposal
of everything about her, returned the Dor
rOwed oars to the place whence they had
been taken, making pleasant remarks all he
time upon indifferent subjects-the weather,
the. chance of getting good haul OF mack
erel after the blow was over, the prospect OF
an early frost, etc, etc.-and then took a
bee line for home, without a word or hint
in regard to the matter which he was well
aware had brought them all out thus early.
+, Blamed Il I'e .don't need KILN, purity
near, y said The Rat. almost ready 70. cry
with vexati9n,,j IS, aexi u. J. C.. M =
"Evidently there has nothing serious hap.
pened, or he would have behaved different
iy,r remarked the landlord. 2Ss 4 .
s.tOh, he'll be round after he's had his
hreakfaah. y sah one Of the men. zen then,
af nobody let's on q though there anxious
ter hear, he'll ell the hull story. Hew0uldn't
miss tellin' itfer enytbin' but he's. GURUS,
Sure enough, II ' was not much over ysr al
hour before Captain Put lQunged care)essly
down the street, mp the steps Of the---, Ho.
tel and into the gentlemen's ROOM, where
the land lord sat reading, and silently handed
him note. Mr. Smith was 80 intent upon
his paper that he barely noticed the intruder
and held the note IN his hand several minutes
before he took time to read It. He had had
his lesson with the others that morning, and
intended to profit by It. The note was from
thu strangar-his guest Of the day before
inleleltsaSvind I'M l}swouh liSetnfA tand set-
tie his bill some time during the dav, or per.
haps the following one. SURPRISING all
signs Of satisfaction, the landlord yawned,
crimpied the note In his hand, and went on
with bis reading. ,aal .qr3.. 1t,
Captain Put walked ,nneasily about for Z
few minutes, removed bis bat and ran bis
fingers through bis thick curls, replaced II,
stroked his beard, fdge,ed ineryously with
his yest-buttons and, watch guard, and
finally drew chair near. the landlord md
sat down facing him. Placing : hand upo1.
either knee, he leaned forward Q little and
said imnressiyely, 'H1fnth "a stranger thai
'''Y Iii, OH ali, yes. .'' said the landlord,
startinr and looking up from his, paper.
Then, allowing It TO fall. from his hands, hs
turned his case out a. the window, Yawn.
Ing, and renarking indifferently, $50 people
say
HYis, NJ. Sulth = yeeeated the Captain,
raising one hand and bringing 1t down upon
his knee again. M though to emphasize the
proposision. ssr1th Is stranger kbgn Nc4on.
| I've Rad . few novils In my time but I know
some tests thet would sound sttanger Ia a
story then anything / ever read In novil. u
The landlord laughed-a little good-na.
tured but diybelieving laugh-and began