The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1889-08-17
RANDOM SKETCHES.
AMONG n HILLS
For the SENTINEL.1
CONTINUED FROM LAST IssUE.)

Down here, rather to the north, is
the homestead where SO many children
were born and reared. A grove OF
1axuriant oaks obscures it ON one side
The apple orchard used to he on the
left and a fine peach orchard and gar
den to the right, but they are nc longer
in existence.
On q neighboring hill is the family
graveyard, surrounded by the whisper
ing pines, and here the sainted mother
rests beside five Of her children. Here.
too, is buried Il young cousin who died
on a visit to my mother, his aunt. just
before his appointed marriage. Con-
scious OF his approaching dissolution
and thinking of his be%trothed, he took
from his finger her ring and, placing it
i'll his mouth. swallowed it. Nearly II
mile away, but in sight, is another
burial ground, the place where we
used to go for yellow plums and black
berries, gazing with melancholy inter
est on the few graves left remaining
there for some bodies had been re-
moved to other spots. Here, many,
many ears ago, al eccentric gentle
men requested to be buried il. his
feIthe" bed! 1t was done, and the
queer grave always excited our child
lsh awe and interest.
Half u mile away winds the beautiful
creek, c%urving around the place like IL
horseshoe. flowing over its pebbly bot
tom and white sands, tempting IL to
wade i'll its clear depths, or %loiter, idly
dreaming on its shady banks. Here
we caught perch, trout and catfish ;
over yOnder we went in bathing, try
ing to learn to swim. In this lovely
nook we gave n%eighborhood picnics,
danced and swung and gathered wild
flowers. See the venerable beech tree
where my brother cut with boyish
hands the initials /. D. NJ. some forty
years ago. Alas! those initials stood
the test Of storm and age long after his
hand was cold in death. Fatally
wounded in battle, his comrades bore
him from the field. Are they still
tightingf" he asked. Answered i'll the
affirmative, he said: "Then leave me
here aud return to your posts" Four
days later the telegram announcing his
death came like a thunderbolt into the
happy family circle where his name
was SO tender]y loved.
with his spirit of devotion, with his soul Of
earnest worth,
He had chung with warmest fervor to the
country Of his birth;
And tOvindicate her honor was his life blood
freely shed,
When he Joined the countless legion of our
unfOrgOtten dead"
Across the creek, on a high hill:
stood the chinquapin grove where in
autumn we gathered the little shining
brown nuts. And here were the woods, |
the enchanting woods, where in spring
r0aMed to gather the wild flowers |
white and blue v~iolets, the pur-
pie h%ydrangea, honeysuckle, red bud,
dogwOOd, yellow %jessamine, hawthorn
and wild roses and later in the year
we came again for wild plums, grapes,
hawberries, muscadines,
chinquapins and chestnuts. And even
in the cold blasts of winter there was
the lovely holly, with its red berries
to tempt us roaming. Here we drew
in health and inspiration and learned
many lessons from the book of nature
open before Ills. Sometimes sentiment
tally inclined, we took our note books
and pencils along, but l generally
found that ants and bugs were too ia
miliar to admit Of writing at ease, sit
ting on logs and trunks of trees.
Another graveyard over here, where
the colOred people buried their dead.
A mile away, in a most picturesque
spot, a schOOlhOuse for cOlored chill
dred has been built since the war, and
church erected for the convenience
Of the same rae Our own private
schoolhOuses, one a mile from the
dwelling and another close by, disap-
peared long ago, when the necessity
them &c Used. Below the house Il
never-failing spring from the hillside
supplied us always with clear cold
water. There were many such springs
IN the place.
Near and far fields of snowy cotton
and rustling corr waited the toilsome
gathering, while on rich meadows
browsed focks Of sheep and herds Of
Those were days when pros
perity smiled on Lochnagar. After
the civil war changes and disasters
came: much of the land passed into
other hands; and those who lad liv-
ed so generously and bountifully be-
gan to feel the terrible strain of debt,
pressing hand of adversely. 1t
was 20 with many large planters, and
owner of Lochnagar could but
acquiesce, as c~heerfully a might be,
the common fate.
In this, my last visit to Lochnagar,
[ gave myself up to the simple joys
If being Once more at the old home. !.
Soon after my arrival came other =,