The record-union., 1897-08-18


to Leesburg, as this was the only way
out, and he knew it would be closely
watched"
Right here, by way of explanation, I
will say that the high prairies of this
section are separated from the gulf by
from ten to twenty miles of almost i'm
passable sea marsh which, in fact, ex
tends eastward to the Atchafalaya. At
the place of which we are speaking the
gulf and sea marsh are separated by
a low ridge of varying width, extending
from the Mermentau River westward
along the Calcasieu. Scattered here
and there along the ridge are small
ranches, owned by Frenchmen, known
famiIiarly in this country as "Cajiens, ,"
a corruption of Acadian. Now their
only communication with the upper
country is either to take a schooner up
the Mermentau or follow the trail west
ward along the ridge to Leesburg, a
little town on the Calcasieu, and there
take the mail boat north for ST. Char
les. I make this short explanation
of the lay of the country to show the
difficulty which confronted the fugitive
And so" continued my friend, che
conceived the desperate idea of cross
ing the marsh, which is about fifteen
miles wide at this point. He knew
about the direction of my ranch from
the Chenier, and reckOned that if ne
could only reach here the rest would
be easy, for we had long been friends.
He took the marsh before day one
morning and figured on getting through
by night, but he. though an Old
'marsher underestimated the difficult
ties to be encountered. The marsh
where he entered it is nothing
more or less than a floating prairie,
covered with a dense growth of saw
grass, which cut his hands and face
at every step. The poor fellow SAID
afterward that he struck several places
where for 200 or 800 yards the turf was
not strong enough to bear up his weight
and he had to wade through the soft
mud, the water often reaching his
waist, and so he dragged himself on,
hardly knowing in which direction he
was travelling, narrowly escaping be-
ing snake bitten, and having to shoot
a huge alligator that proposed to dis
pute the right of way with him.
AT sundown he reached lake, which
surprised him, as he had never dream
ed that one existed in that lonely, deso-
late place. It's size, too, amazed him.
for as nearly as he could guess it was
about ten miles in circumference. The
shores, like the surrounding marsh,
were afloat. no solid land to be seen.
What should he do? Night was fast
approaching. The turf sank at every
step, ard, worse than all, he had the
marsh cramps a kind of rheumatism
brought on by walking over the yield
ing turf. Love of life and determina-
tion to save himself gave him strength,
however, and he pushed on to the left,
always keeping as near to the shore
as possible. hoping to find knoll on
which to spend the night. About dark
he came suddenly upon a low shelf
reef GOV cred with trees. Having saved
his matches by sticking them in his
hatband, he soon had a roaring fire,
and proceeded to dry his clothes. He
did not sleep much that night. owing
to the close proximity of too many ali
gators. The light had attracted them
from all parts of the lake, and as they
swan slowly about the ghostly glitter
of many eyes added another horror to
his already Wretched situation. Day.
break ended his weary vigil and re-
vealed a short distance from him, in
a cIump of myrtle bushes on the reef
an iron cross. He examined it care
fully. but it was devoid of any inscrip-
tion-simply a plain iron cross planted
firmly in the shells. Suddenly it fash
ed upon him that this was counter
part of the one which he had often
seen. All was plain enough now. La
fitte had sailed up the Mermentau and
through some connecting bayon, now
evidently grown over with the marsh
turf, into this lake and had buried an
other lot of treasure on this isolated
reef.
'There was no tomb here as ON the
Chenier. Lafitte thought the lake, with
its surrounding bogs. hiding place
enough. Surely no human being would
ever venture here or ever find the place
The fugitive did not stay to investigate
further. for he had eaten nothing in
twenty-four hours and had to make
the main land that day or not at all.
Besides, the tide, which is governed in
the sea marshes by the wind alone,
might rise at any time, and then he
would be utterly cut off from hope OF
life. Climbing a tree, he took a survey
of the country. Beside the she'll reef
he saw no dry land anywhere about
the lake One thing attracted his ait
tentionL About half a mile to the east
he saw a blind bayou running out from
the lake toward Mermentau, which was
a confirmation of his theory Of the
manner in which Lafitte had entered
the lake, but nature had closed it with
a heavy growth of turf, making more
secure the old pirates secret Looking
to the northwest he saw this ranch
which he recognized as mine by the
island of trees. As near as he could
guess. it was five or six miles away
To the north he saw a large number of
knobs and small islands of trees. He
saw. too, a cove running out quite a
way from the land. He concluded that
the best way was to head directly for
the knolls, where travelling would be
much easier, keeping among them as
long as possible. and then strike out
directly for the cove. This route was
considerably out of his course. but, be-
ing an odd marsher,' he knew he would
make time by it.
He arrived here at 3 o'clock in the
afternoon. as near dead as any man
could be and draw breath. I kept him
hid for several days, during which
time he told me the above story of one
of the most remarkable Journeys of
which I have ever known. he being the
only man who has ever been known to
cross the sea marches at this point.