The Opelousas courier., 1888-05-26
Opelousas, Ho!
MAY Z, 1888.
n ton Rouge Truth

Heed. a sovereign uncroWned
suddenly, could not feel so an
INFLATED as | did a few moments
since when some one marking
the signs Of travel in my dust
hegrimed face and sooty APP
nesrance generally, asked me,
aaWhere have you been ?"
aHad not all the world he1rd
ofit" | questioned. "Was Not
the news scattered broadcast
wei the land of the feted and
battered Press Gang of the
royal reception given us by the
fair Queen of the Prairies 2
She gathered the hard working
scribes in her warm, hospitable
arms, rendered the hearts and
heartstones of her realm, to the
members of the newspaper fra
ternity. Gave us greetings with
music, poesy and flowers, a trim
ity that yields the most SUBJ
tile influence upon the human
heart. How joyous the welcome,
how sweet, how penetrating and
enduring the hospitality we en-
loved in the fair Teche country,
where Opelousas, all flower
-
crowned and clad in sunshine, is
d fair sovereign indeed.
Could anyone be really ignoe
rant of all this, or was it pure
feminine righteousness that
prompted the query, "Where
have you been 2" AT any rate
ii was like a dash of cold water
in my face, and though not par
tiaularly refreshing it was start
ling, and | moralized on the oft
quoted, MUCH hackneyed and
frequently experienced philoso-
ply in regard to a man not be-
ing without honor save in his
own land. Such a train of
thought is humiliating, and like
Uriah Heap, I am e%nveloped in
4 'umbleness several inches
thick this evening.
And yet, ever and anon, even
through this heavy coating, a
thrill of e%xultation tingles and
sets my pulses leaping and my
heart aglow, as the memory OF
past delights rush upon me. 81
milar sensations to those We
felt (aoe of the Press Association
WHEN we sped away from the
Morgan depot, a week ago, on
onr annual outing. Speeding
away from the din and tumult OF
our Southern metropolis, past
quiet hamlets, along marshy
stretches, where the reeds Riped
tune TO the water lilly, and the
rushes smiled at the conceit OF
the snakeroot, where the black
berry hobnobbed with the Gle
mats, and briars pricked pale
sunset tinted blossoms that crept
beneath them for protection.
Long, damp water grasses Wav-
ed their plumes to the agrees
siye thistle that grew on the
lower ridge of the rail
road embankment. We dashed
through the woods with its quiv-
ering, glistening canopy, its
thousand small voices that unit
ed into a mighty chorus, a jubi-
LIANT hosanna. The cardinal bird
fitted joyously in the sunshine
near the track, or winged like q
meteor through the darkness OF
the forest at our approach.
Across placid bayous 1.-THE pic.
turesque D'Allemand is SO love.
III that it seems to WOO the ar.
tistic soul to a summers sojourn
on its banks), over malria-breath
ing lagoons, on, on past idea
farm houses with rose gardens
agloW and a galaxy Of gera'
NUNS on the verandahs. Some
times the occupants of the
houses we pass, humble or lord,
", wave at us, a simple custom
but somehow they seem to Wisf
us God speed and send Us friend.
ly token.
With a shrek of exnltatior
the locomotive rushed on to.
wards the rolling prairie lands
of 81. Landry.
With fervor we exclaimed, as
hundreds of thousands have
done before us, probably, aThi'
IL the garden spot of Lorlisi
anal" / wish the authors 81
The sweet Legend of st. Ian.
dry that appeared in the Times
Democrat of last Sunday, would
write another classical romance
and fix the oft debated garden
NJ Eden in this place for tht
touch Of genius on q theme
however we'll worn, illumines it
$3.50 -