Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-06-27

|I|N . HI.... WIFI NUNS Na.I.. HU... A.|If
head b. tucked beneath % V..- He
regrets tl- absent family and ;Lu chich
ems that nightly adorned the oak trees
IN the back yard Birds are very
dainty. 10 bee sure, but there o., ~u much
more In "a chicken to dcvour expect
that's what Mr.. Owl Is thinking about.
Ugh and ouch. What a great big
snake just glided up that old stump
covered over with trumpet vines
What "A tanglewood we are in. my lit
tie dun, you and |! Let US hasten to
get out of this and beyond the yellow
bayou strip Of woods before it gets
dark.
But there are washout holes. hidden
perils under the green briar vines.
thorns. locusts thrusting their prickly
branches aCgressively in ones face. and
echoing from tree TO tree booms the
weird hoOtings Of many cruel, watching
owls while bullbats are fitting ieetly
through the cleaning. Here she
reaches a gap in the zigzag fallen fence,
densely shrouded in the deep green Of
the ampelopsis, and white alder bios
SONS GROWING them with their bridal
white coymbs. There is a rail or two
for the pony TO step over, and the mo
ton showers down thousands Of the
fragrant horets upon the equestn-
enne. The river road is reached the
sunken and crevaSsed levees looking
more like Unlocked raves than a
breastwork against the turbid waters
Of that swift flowing Atchafalaya; al
belt, they looked innocent enough in
June within their cavelike red and
blue clay banks, and broad white
sanded bars stretching almost across 20
the farther shore, willow fringei and
sentineled with a thick mushroom
growth Of cottonwood trees that like
Tannhausers staff, bRnched and
leaved and lowered a three nights
growth, mystically.
Ye calmly sleeping waters, what have
ye wrought what evil yet will ye do in
the coming yeaH7 Willow fringed,
gentle tapping waters sleep sweetly be
meath the twilighted heavens, with the
consolatory thought that We have
wrought an evil work that good may
come. Have ye not deposited a rich
alluvium upon this already fertile landl
gear eaten by rats, and the wagons
fallen into 'innocuous desuetude, and
the voice Of the laborer no longer heard
in the plantation melody, but Is being
lifted in the rousinG chorus Of John
Browns soul goes marching on, in the
c]onqueriug Federal camps.
The Yellow Bayou woods, skirted by
an old clearing Of rotting trees, and
pitJed by crevasse holes. impel the girl
20 have her wits about her and shake
of the dismal memories II the tragic
haunted house, the universal d~esolation
Of her surroundings and her present $50
laton. Should something happen,
what them She was far from human
aid, no ear 10 hear her cry, no hand 70
save. Almost her lot would form a
parallel 20 the previous plight Of the
abandoned pony left Ike a stick in the
mud by his Disguised master.
Hello here | go, sure enough"
The unshod hoofs had stumbled.
The pony fell 10 the ground, the girl
going over his head-and then-still-
ness.
There stood "a wretched. gloomy sad,
colored little "beastie. looking more
like a donkey than a horse, the saddle
awry on his thin back, the rope bride
dangling di~,consolately in front Of his
nose.
Hello what's this. 4 mustang
saddled in the wood. Somebody must
be around besides ourselves. Strange
that lac did not take up the 'yawhoop,'
or join IN "a tune"
4 party Of six mounted rebels were
riding along the unfrequented river
road, singing The Yellow Rose Of
Texas. +" The Girl / Left Behind Ne, "
with an occasional rebel yell 70 enliven
the refrain.
That animal, or anImule, has some
very fine points about him, boys"
Fine points indeed Look at his
shoulders his ribs can be counted, and
he may be one great Interrogation
point 70 rs; he tells US nothing. how
ever"
Then he peers among the fallen logs
and around the deadened tree trunks
humming, ''Oh, the sweetest girl that
ever / did see is the girl / left behind
me. Why, b-b-boys-look here, The
sweetest girl that | ever did see is here
before me, dead-or tainted dead
away"
The six soldiers clustered around,
hustled about and held cauteeu water
10 the closed lips, and sprinklei the
palLd young face. One picked up the
hat, and another e-sayed % arrange the
disheveled copper skirtin 10 more seem
ly folds; aIl the time the sad eyed dun
pony standing stock still waiting FOR the
issue.
Soon the girl stirred. and opened
wondering gray blue eyes upon her
W.. ... 49,.