The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-02-10
| eTITHERs' ADVENTURE

"A uIHERS' ADVENTURE
y pl&ok Hia B6sorts to ssava the
Sukia's DauGl1.ter.
ssss 1tfntherA was discontented, ~ was
1nsleei the scauses were different. but
fb9 effect tho same.
knocked about Central
AmqF1cA 1ortalmost four months on I.
vA4n quest for adventures which would
nan&a hi1college vacation a lrniqueJore
end all his room at the 'sHall',' with,
tsuphies and the boys ears with <1,rill,
s Bones was beginning to rebel at the
eocfety of native ours, whose comb med
3ofceA did mot suffice to give t,im n
zeem6lanco OF the delightful, scrirn.
images he was wont to have. In Cam
Htruthers' latest vagr ~-and nw;nc
toseis fathers liberalit,f ho was ablo to
indulge In many suct. WAS the charters
ing Of small natl re schooner. with
crew Of six biz elk Caribs he was now
s sl9 sne Mosquito shore of Hon.
1Dios. .ere he expected to catch a
h0mew ard bound steamer.
~ He~yeArued for the delights of civili-
xssetOA and ice, and felt that. after all,
sats conventional pleasures of tennis.
~canoefng md dancing at Bar Harbor
certain joys of mule back and huuting
in the wilds of Central America
The outfit, or what rema med of it,
was rusty and battered, buL the hard
ships which had wrought Ahis change
In his '.impe1imenta'' had. been vastly
benedcial to the owner in hardening
his muscles aud broadening his Shout
1erz
With Bones things had not gone SO
well; an almost steady diet of bananas
had made him thin. mud between the
chfgoes and gar1apatas very, little of
his glossy coat.was left. save in sbredsI
and patches.
Its too l.ad, Bones. ,old fellow; they
haven't left you Ir.ucb hair" said
struthers. .'Ncrer,nind. your troables
will soon be over. I say. Ossorio,s turn
ing wrathfullYupon the Garth captain,
:. what is this bcastly, oldcouptry of
yohrs good for. anyway? haven't had
q decent adventure or seen any thinR
worth telling, in the vtholo length and
breadth of it!"
replied the Carib, afsplendid specimen of
that race of semi-civilized black SNUG
glers. who dart along the Caribbean
coast in their f/svift dories.
Way yon. Ner, I" he continued, point
Ing toward the west, sis de lam ub de
Wa'kas; pssnsy fun dere; but white man
no sabez >htm. No white men dcre, not
chen Spanish man. only Vaikas.
bucF- "a, only Wailxas.''
Perhaps you're right, Ossorio, about
tR plenty fun. At any rate, I'll have
AAother try at amusement before cut
rhe country; SO put about and make for
ssome river you think your friends, the
Waikas, may live near"
Soon they were sailing along the low
sandy coast which lay to the left, and
as they rounded a little cape Struthers
cried out: Look. there's the mouth of
the river"
II see him." answered the Carib,
make we put in dere. tink me,
PrEps. see WailSa town soon by"
The Carib's superstition was correct,
Tor the schooner was soon near enough
for them to perceive the high-peaked
matched roofs and bamboo walls of
the native houses Nesting among the |
waving palms and plumy cocoanut |
trees which lined the river bank.
Tue schooner was over the bar and |
abneast of the village before the ma |
tiy es were aware of their presence.
Then they came running and jump
ing down to the river bank like SO |
many children. in high glee ove-- the !
arrival of strangers and the possibility |
of beads, and perhaps a little rum.
The landing was soon made, and |
the Carib. polyglot that he was,
acted as interpreter in presenting
Struthers to the old chief, Dana Pisano,
and conducted them to his watla, or
hoCse.
Installed in a wide hammock within
the semi-darlxness of the watla, and
a large gourd of cool pineapple mishla
at his side. Struthers forgot his discon-
tent and asked many questions of
Pisano through the Carib.
He learned that the music they had
heard was part of the Ceremony attend-.i
mt upon the death of an old sulkia or
medicine man." whose funeral YVES to |
be held on the following day.
s"To-morrow. ut first sun up, de
fun'ral begins. Dana Pisano asks you
II yoM wan to see him-better you do
maybe it muse you," said the Carib, |
with unconscious sarcasm.
At sunrise the next morning he was |
suddenly aroused by the rattle of mus
kerry, followed by doleful bowls and
Rushing out of tho watla, where he
had spent the night. he saw a large pit
pan (1ugouD coming slowly down the
river, while on the bank abreast of it
two columns of Waikas, tho
men constitp ting one column. the yvom-
en- the other.
In the pitpan was the dead medicine
man, his three widows and a solitary
pad6llcr.
The pitpan made n landing, aud the
coffin. followed by the crowd of silent
Watlkas, was carried along a narrow