Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-12-02
A LOST OPPORTUNITY.

"A LUOI UIfUHl UNII1.
A Tc,e of Disappointment from
Queue Tortue."
In an out-of-the-way section of what
is known in Louisiana as the Attakapas
country lies the little prairie of Queue
Tortue, or Turtles Tail. Its ;nhabit-
ants are the descendants of the original
ses.acadian settlers, and for over a
nv century past they have kept almost en-
y trely to themselves, marrying and
intermarrying, so that every resident
there is related to every body else in
the prairie. They have decided
distaste for any thing that tends toward
progress, and the habits and manners
of their fathers are followed as pieous-
, ly as are the instructions of their
: priest. Supplemented, gay and i'm
=, bued with all the esprit of their French
~ ancestors, they are probably as con-
= tented people as can be found on
L oliC VI lut hlldIuCs ndlSlIIO
, cattle, tilling some cotton and loving
: at their families, they entertain but little
n regard for what is transporting in the
es great world beyond the boundaries of
is Queue Tortue. Their wants are but
hi few, and with enough coffee, tobacco
ID and corn, they live contentedly to a
un ripe old age. Strong in their affections,
'Cs family ties are held in reverence, and
ole "a fourth cousin receives as hearty a
swewelcome at their simple homes as q
I es, brother or near relative. They are,
d nxhowever, exceedingly shy of strangers,
ole and it requires long residence in that
III, locality to secure even the faintest APP,
.'Fr proach of intimacy with them
ie Near the center of the prairie, in a
. plain cottage of four rooms, the Pom
pom family lived in that bucolic sim
plicity which had given such longevity
to their ancestors. To the observer it
would seem that the same strings of
red peppers were hanging from the
rafters that were picked in the forties,
and the same little black coffee-pot
was resting beside the hearth out of
which their grandsire, Pierre Adelaide
Ponpon, had taken his morning cup.
There could be no question about the
furniture, for all of it, save one modern
bedstead, purchased in later times for
the girls, was of so primitive type it
was even eloquent of its antiquity. AT
one end of the gallery an antiquated
hand-loom told where the family nan
kin cottonade came from, and col
lection of empty sardine boxes under
the house suggested newly &C.
quired tastes not entirely in keeping
with the primitive character of the
aforementioned loom. Four yellow.
haired dogs dozed languidly in the
afternoon sunshine ON the bare patch
of earth in front of the domicile, now
and then mastering up sufficient energy
to go through a sort of banjo-picking
vbratory movement with the left hinC
leg, as they sought to remove the
predatory flea.
Beyond. the swells of the prairi,
went rolling away in the distance like
great pillows of green, with here an,
there knots of cattle like bits of sea
weed afloat on the surface. Still be
yond, sky and grass met where it ap
peared the world ended, Skrtings Of
cypress in some directions told of me
andering bayous, and once in while
thin column of smoke indicated th,
pos ton of the nearest houses, som,
four or five miles away.
1t was bright October Afternoon
and the air was fragrant with the odo
of the rpening grasses and flowers o
the prairie. Great white clouds i,
broken outline lay along the horizon
like mountain ranges, the sides o
which were riven by gorges and can
yuns of shadow. A crew of nomadi
white cranes were pluming themselye
at water hole about quarter of
mile away, while above, seeking tn
shelter of the far-off sea marsh, wisp
of blue-winged teal were scudding be
fore the first north winds of tn
autumn. Tied to a china tree near tn
Pompon dwelling, with dropping hea
and eyes half-ciosed. stood q sma
Creole pony, as uncanny lookin,
quadruped as horseman could we
imagine. A rough saddle with heav
wooden stirrups, rawhide bride wit
strong curb bit and a saddle blanke
made of moss, were the only orna
ments of the little beast. Diminutiv
as was the animal, it was evident fror
the length OF the stirrup straps that hi
rider was quite a tall individual
Such surmise would hay
been at once corroborated by glanc
into the front room, which served q
once as parlor, bed chamber and ST
ting-room. There. on low, straight
backed oak chair of raw hide bottom
sat a young man of about TWENTY-FIVE,
his face bronzed by exposure. and h
long boots despatched with muC
Standing in those same boots the wir
, cavalier would have measured SOM
ding like six feet two inches. III
htures showed that he was of Angl,
Non blood. He was known in ii
= lThborhood as m sieu Hareese,"
| hit variation on his Patronymi,
Harris. Some eighteen months befol
the afternoon referred to he had pu
chased tract Of land in the prsirit