The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-08-22
CHAPTER III.


The Coupcourt mansion stood upon an
airy bluff overlooking a wide marsh
meadow and blue space of the gulf of
Mexico. 1t was large, roughly built
wooden house, surrounded by broad
yeranda and cut into four equal parts by
two wide halls crossing each other at
right angles. Immense live oaks and
magnolias shaded it; subtropical flower
ing plants and vines grew around and
over it; it had its scuppernong vine-
yard, its orange grove, its pecan trees,
its peach orchard and its tropical vege-
table garden. Across the marsh meadow
from the house to the gulf ran a natural
canal, as deep and straight as il cut by
man, beside which stood an old boat
shed. A little sloop lay moored hard by.
The De Blieu mansion was the coun-.
terpart of its neighbor. Between them
lay the great black swamp, the Terre
aux Loups-garous. From one place to
the other, although the distance was
several miles, the shrill quill music Of
rival negro pipers could be heard when
the weather was very favorable. So the
songs of the cane cutters would meet on
the half way ground and struggle and
die in the swamp.
Toulme de Blieu found great change
in things at the De Blieu place when he
returned. He had been away seven
years, the war had interviewed, and now
freedom was proclaimed to the slaves
upon the closing echoes Of the war. His
father and all his brothers were dead.
Sisters he had not, and his mother was
growing very feeble for one of her age.
He looked over the plantation and found
it badly run to weeds and neglect, while
many of the negroes had gone away to
enjoy wide liberty under the new
regime.
Toulme was youth Of fine presence,
Of good impulse and faultless manners,
but he felt that his first duty was to
kill a Coupcourt Great was his chagrin,
therefore, when upon inquiry he found
that there was no male Coupcourt at
hand. Reluctantly enough he put away
his pistols and knives and began to try
to console himself with fishing and sail
ing. To tell the whole truth, he soon
ceased to think about the feud and gave
himself up to his sloop, his fishing
tackle, his gun and his dogs with gen.
timely boyish enthusiasm.
Old Tete-chauve, the chief, SO to
speak, Of the De Blieu negroes, had re-
manned true to his former owners and
had hailed the return of Toulme with
such demonstrations Of delight as no
one but an aged and loving negro can
,,aalyo Ha pou, fo11oxx-oJ tho vo,,,,rv ,,oac
ter of De Blieu place about as if he
could never tire Of serving him. He was
q garrulous old fellow, given to stories
of the marvellous and the uncanny.
Toulme listened to Tete-chauve with
an idle interest. 1t revived his boyhood's
memories and called up again the hunt
ing legend Of the Loup-garou. No mat
ter how light hearted the young man
was, he felt in no indefinite way the
great change in his old home and its
surroundings, and day by day melan-l
choly as tenuous as it was obscure grew
in his breast 1t was hard to realize that
the grandeur had departed from bis
family name and that he, the last of the
De Blieus, was left without future,
and yet he did, in a way, understand
that this was SO. 81
Most Of the time, however, he was
gay enough. He was daring and ex-
pert sailor, and from morning until
night he would sport with the wind and
waves, coasting about, now in the
bights and coTes and now under the
white sand bluffs or anon under the
gloomy shadow of the Terre aux Loups-
garous, as free and careless as the white
caps and the breeze.
One day he saw another sloop, almost
exactly like his own, running close to
the wind not far ahead Of him. He bore
down upon it for race, thinking it
fisherman, but as he ran alongside near
enough to have tossed an orange into it
he saw beautiful young girl at the
helm. For a space the two little sloops
sped side by side, their calls slanting in
parallel lines, the white wisps Of foam
shining above their dipping gunwales.
while just ahead of their bows wing and
wing flew pair Of snowy sea birda,