Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1886-07-16
THE BANANA THIEF.
BY HENRY NEWPORT.

nc cNlHclOn, Wlllch mas 50 loiS
been feature Of the newspapers of Paris.
is rapidly being cngralted upon the strong
stock Of American journalism, and now
the daily story is looked for by many
readers as eagerly as are the stock reports
by others. Because Of this fact, put
the following matter in the form of a
story, instead Of the stereotyped style Of
a newspaper letter, aud in genuine story
fashion open with few words Of talk
from the lips of one of the characters.
In this case, she is Mary" the we'll
known Choctaw pcddler Of roots and
herbs, whose station is near the down
town entrance of the famous F ench
Market, in New Orleans. Hear her:
"Eb, 6iea, ecntymans! it is true ]
am no banan this morning not a one.
lie is stole, that banan. Two bunch
banan stole, and the thief-the thief
he is snake"
Seeing the doubtful look upon our
faces, Mary pointed a copper-colored
fore finger toward her stock in trade
spread out upon the pavement around
her.
"EA, lien, gcntymansw she said in
in her unmodulated voice 1T is true.
See, / am no banan this morning"
Sure enough, the noble bunch of ba-
nanas which had been her pride and
principal source Of revenue, as well as
the envy Of every other Choctaw vcnder
in the market, for 10 these many days
was conspicuous by its absence, and
Mary's stock-like that Of her compat-
riots-was made up solely Of some pitt
full bark canoes, beaded moccasins
punches of dried herbs and roots, and
about two quarts Of swamp blackberrics.
'Aud the thief?" asked my compan-
ion, Gustayc-a member of the New Or.
leana police fsraoa@-s.fs,sr taking tlsyd.s
lazy pulls at his cigarette and cjeetfsc
the smoke in slender streams froI2 I'M
nostrils. rs he here2 Was he ! Of
your ncighborsW
lie is not here; no. lie is i,5t man
he. He is snake"
Like all other Indians, the Choctaw
berry venders, who gather in a little
group each morning at one end of the
French market in New Orleans, are not
voluble. GLOW much2" you will ask,
pointing at square piece Of clean bark
upon which a handful Of berries is piled,
and the Indian viii hold up two fingers
indicating cents-or three, or four, as
the case may be. Sometimes he will
put the price into words; but his con-
versation is, in general, reserved for his
own people in the privacy Of his native
'wanps. The enterprise which had in
tuce Mary to add a bunch of bananas
to her home-gathercd roots and herbs
had lei to her acquiring a more extend
ed vocabulary than that Of any of her
relatives, and the excitement consequent
upon her great loss made her use it
more freely, this morning, than ever be-
fore IN the presence of white men.
"Ycu are not believe that thief is
snakc"
She pushed her coarse black hair be-
hind her cars and scowled at us from
beneath her wiry eyebrows. Then she
bclted the loose calico wrapper which
she wore with her outs retched fingers
and jerked her head toward the circum-
ference Of her waist thus indicated
''That snake is big through like am
His head is little like my two fists, and
he is long-ed, 5ien. he is long like a
ship.
"You know that Tchoupitoulas road?
Yes. ! am live there. Two mile from
there, where the river bends in and
comes near my wigwam. | am hang
my banan in that live-oak tree, where
the wind can keep him fresh, and when
am come up from the river, before
ycster night, with water for boil in the
pot, that snake is come down out of the
liye-oak lie is black, and he is crawl,
and crawl, and c-r-a-w-lp
She initiated the serpent's slow, Gid
ing motion with her skinny arm and
hand.
'And then, when I am stiff with
'fraid, he jumps
Her hand dumped" and clutched a
bunch Of wild ginger.
"And snap goes my banan-stem, and
he is gone Eh, bien, gentrymans! lie
is gone off in the swamp with my banan-
That is ono. l buy me some more
banan. That snake is gone in the
swamp. l hang my banan in the live
oak, and that other night-the last
night-he is here again, and this MORN
ing | am no banan."
She waived her hand with tragic
gesture above the meagcrly spread pave
ment, as though saying, Here is proof
of my words-there is no banana here;
Il believe her." remarked Gustaye,
oracularly. He threw his head back
upon his shoulders and sent thirteen per
feet rings of smoke, one after anothqr,
from between his lips ''We will go on
there this evening and scotch that snake
what do you say2n
''But a snake can have no possible use
for bananas. serpents are frugivoroas'
! tI don't care what they are, Mar