The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1889-03-19
V.
ORION MEETS RoCHRoN IN CONFLICT.

ORION MEETS CHR N CONFLICT.
The firing down the bayou was draw
ing nearer and nearer. The enemy was
approaching in row. boats, as could be
told by the splash of oars and the rattle
of thole- pins, while a small party of
picked men from Garcin's party was har-
RAISING them from the tall grass of the
bordering marsh. 1t was evident that
Rochon meant to force a landing at some
point near by and take Garcip's place by
storm. Orion walked swiftly over the
ground to be defended by his little party
and found that in the midst of the slough
there was a deep, ditch like creek, or
miniature bayou, up which row-boats
could easily come. Near the point in the
large bayou where this small one entered
a little sloop lay ready manned for action
and pretty soon she opened fire with a
swivel or a small carronade by the blaze
of which Orion saw plainly the fleet of
advancing rOw-bOatS behind which and
towed by them came a small schooner.
The shot from the sloop was answered by
a booming discharge fired from a piece at
the bow of the larger vessel and the shot
went singing over head striking far back
in the still, dusky woods with a heavy
crunching sound. After this was a short
lull and hen the musketry began to rat
tie in a lively, suffering way on both
sides of the bayou, as Garcin's advanced
pickets fell back under cover Of the sloop
and were supported by a body of twenty
r~esolute fellows behind a low fence of
heavy oak posts driven close together in
the sand.
Rochon's fotilla came right on, firing
furiously, the rowboats, after giving the
schooner sufficient momentum to bear
her forward to a favorable position, part
ing and dropping back a little to be out
of the way of her swivels which were
now belching a level shower of missiles
that rakeed the Garcin house and garden
and tore through the light defences at the
waters edge. The sloop answered sturd-
lily, but she was too small and pretty soon
Orion saw her men jumping over her sides
and swimming ashore while the bayou's
water was beaten into foam by the balls
and bullets striking around them.
Suddenly, as if at a signal, a group of
the enemy's boats swung out toward the
shore and Orion saw five of the number
enter the little bayou that he and his men
were guarding. Each boat carried seven
men.
"Lie down, quickly!' ordered Orten
in a low voice, and as his men obeyed, he
stopped to get a better view of the adj
vancing fotilla. Then for the first time
he was aware of a line of men Just be-
yond the slough and at the same moment
came a heavy volley crashing from that
quarter.
Orion and his men returned the fire
with promptness and effect; but this ex-
posed them to the boats that at once be-
gan to enilade them with murderous pre-
cision.
There was nothing to do but to fall
back in the direction of the garden and
permit the boats to land. The schooner
was doing deadly work now as she slowly
drifted toward Garcin's little dock, firing
her swivels rapidly and pouring from her
deck a succession of musketry broadsides.
A voice, like the trumpeting of a mad
bull, roared orders from the little vessels
bows; each word could be heard distinct
ly above all the other noises of the con-
f1ict. 1t was old Rochon, who with a
cutlass in one hand and a heavy pistol in
the other, stood impatiently waiting for
his vessel to touch the dock so that he
might leap ashore and bear down upon
his victims in person.
Orion and the survivors of his party,
availing themselves of every cover that
offered, slowly retreated toward the gar
den, firing rapidly as they went. Mean
time Garcin had been driven from the
fence below the dock and had kept his
men together only by the most desperate
efforts and the most reckless personal
courage.
The struggle lasted much longer than
might have been expected reasonably, but
it could have no end save in the utter de-
feat of Garcin's band and the destruction
of the Garcin place. No sooner had old
Rochon reached the dock than he sprang
ashore, followed by a score or more of
his most efficient men, and rushed upon
the house with yells that faily shook the
forests around. The building was in
flames very soon and Garcin and his men,
routed and badly cut up, fed in every
direction, pursued by their enraged and
bloodthirSty enemies.
. When Orion saw Rochon's men land
ing and making ready to assault the house,
he suddenly ~bethought him of his pictures
and sketches. Without further reflection
he ran in and snatching them up fed with