The Opelousas courier., 1893-10-14

honey. I knows dem trouts. n I got
de right sort O bait an dis yer goad te
tickle dey noses. Yer ia sholy hal
her mess o fish, Marse Fob"
They had now entered the lake
"bottom,' and had to pick their way
to avoid the swinging grape-vines;
rotten trees, stumps, cypress knees
and mud holes through which wound
the narrow track they were follow.
ing.
If Rob had been alone he would
have been lost in five minutes, for the
path was crossed and recrossed and
intertwined with half hundred Others
made by hogs, deer-or cattle, and all
looking exactly alike; but the old
negro went on without hesitation, and
at last they emerged from the dense
Jungle on the border of the lake.
The water shoals SO much in ap-
preaching the shore that it is difficult
to fish from the bank. Uncle Ike was
provided for this emergency ; he kept
O ano hidden among the bushes at
the waters edge; but it was q rickety,
primitive affair to trust ones life to.
CHOW, Marse Rob" said Ike, as he
held the boat steady, you sot right
down dar, n don't yer bulge 'cep'n to
frow yer line. Eff yer gifts to wobblin'
bout m jumpin' up n down lax boys
mostly does, dis pirogue gwine upset,
sho, n den whar'll us be-"
Rob promised to sit still, and old
Ike seized his paddle and sent the
little boat swiftly toward the centre of
the lake.
They fished here for a while with
good success, but there was no shade
nea them, and the heat, pouring
down from the sky and reflected from
the water, became intolerable to Rob,
whose skin blistered in the fervid rays
which seemed only to warm his COM
panion pleasantly.
"Uncle Ike" he said, presently, edo
let's paddle in the shade of that treel
| can't stand this sun. The fish will
bite just as well there"
Ike cast a dubious glance toward the
tree mentioned-a submerged monarch
of the forest whose top had yielded to
the slow decay of centuries and dropped
off piecemeal, but which still stretched
broad green arms over the water.
ri dunno, Marse Rob; dey moughA
'n'Sley moughtn't. Hush'shl I got a
bite"
Another moment or two passed.
Then Rob flung his fishing-pole to the
bottom of the boat and petulantly ex-
claimed:
Sim going to get out of this SIN,
Uncle Ike! won't be roasted alive!"
"Des ez you say, young marse," re-
piled the old man submissively, as be
began slowly winding up his line.
Perhaps Rob's troubled conscience
made him ill-natured, and the heat GER
tainly had a tendency to make him SO.
Impatiently he snatched the paddle,
and with a few sharp, quick strokes
brought the pirogue under the shadow
of the tree.
Uncle Ike looked up in time to see,
but not toward, the danger. A swift,
eddy swept round the trunk,
and in an instant the current sucked
the boat into its vortex.
At the old mans cry Of alarm, Rob
not knowing what OF where the dan
ger was, sprang impulsively to his feet.
At the same instant the other end of
the canoe struck against the tree. Over
the frall craft went, and left both it's
occupants foundering in the water.
Scarcely had they touched the sur
face when there was a ripple to the
right of them, a ripple to the left, a
swirl and a splash in the near distance.
Alligators were focking in upon them
rom every direction.
eur heaben's sake, Marse Robi"
,asped Ike, as Dol as he caught his
'Ketch holt er dat limb
wing up-out'n de water-quick, |
I~nstinetively conscious of his peril,
nd light and agile asa young panther.
Rob seized a branch of the tree and
wung himself clear Of the water.
Observation-Disclosures amt out O.
each o them varmints UT :" cried Ike,
egardless Of his own peril. When
Rob had reached a bough six or seven
eet above the water, Ike caught the
the boy had just left, and by a
powerful effort, drew himself up until
irst his knees and then his feet rested
it and he stood erect, holding to
he branch above.
He had hardly found firm footing
vhen the rush of the alligators made
he old tree tremble. A black snout
;ppeared here, another there, and one
lungry monster reared himself against
he trunk as if determined to get the
irst taste.
Rob looked at them astounded. He
vas in an agony Of terror lest the old
nan should be dragged down and de-
CURED.
"Come up, here, Uncle IkeT' he
ried. Come up here, I ssy!"
Ike looked at the branch above,
ooked at the swarm of bloodthirsty
'rutes below, and shook his head.
"Dat ar limb amt strong 'nough to
Far us bofe, Marse Rob Use tex my
nance here
"You sha'n't! you sha'n't! Look ct
hat fellow! he'll have you in another
Climb up, or I'll come
traight down"
Thus urged, the negro made a spring
striking his feet against the
limb below to aid his ascent. At the
anne moment the alligator struck ii
lso. 1t slivered and broke while the
luge saurian fell back into the lake
nth a sullen plunge and disappeared.