The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-06-12


educated class in that mixed company
of adventurous young fellows.
Sergeant Wayne first broke the dreary
silence.
Were as gloomy and silent as if we
were all going to be hung" he cried,
with n loud laugh. "Cheer up, Max!
Cheer up! There's nothing o be 5 o glum
about, man. There's nothing i'll the way
Of evidence against you, is there, Rob
erts?n
what do I know?' growled the 9th
er.
-Pshaw! You're as morose as Maxwell
here. And you Ought to be happy
enough, too-got your discharge, going
back to your friends, money in peck
et'-
Isit?" growled the private. II wish
you'd hold your row."
Nasty. amt he, Maxwell? He'll be
better after supper and he's got some Of
that splingbok meat down his throat.
Finest buck I ever shot, Max"
II thought hunting passes had been
stopped since Jones got assagaied when
ont s~hooting?" said Maxwell indiffer-
emily.
MAYBE they are, old man." said
Wayne, with 4 laugh, ''but the sergeant
Of the guard can sometimes get a chance
to get some fresh meat for supper. So
Roberts and I managed to skip the
camp
He suddenly stopped and looked
quickly at the prisoner. But Maxwell's
thoughts Were already wandering back
to his own position.
well, we'll" said the sergeant, "as
I was saying, Maxwell, you needn't be
afraid. They can't prove anything
against you; SO no harms done, and
some day you can drop back and dig up
the'-
Maxwell cried out in a passion of in
dignation:
do you really think I hid that mon
ey:''
The sergeant looked at him with Ell
eye half shamed, half amused.
well, Maxwell, +" BE said, 1.-THE Beers
and the knobkerrie and the call for help
made a pretty story, especially that cry
from the night, 'Wacht cen beetjer but
we all know there were no Beers within
1907
He stopped, for Maxwell was looking
at him, startled, ~euriously.
well, WELL" the sergeant said,
there's no harm done. They can't
prove anything"
Silence fell on the three again, but
Maxwell was full Of strange thoughts.
They camped by the side of a river
which the sergeant would not swim be-
fore daylight, having a discreet regard
for ~crocodiles, busiest always and hun
griest at shutdown. Roberts prepared
the deer meat fer broiling. Wayne gath
cred material for the fire, and Maxwell
took the billies and went down to the
river, 80 yards away, to fill them with
water. The wet season was nearly over,
and the river was running low. Already
rocks and ranks of shingly sand showed
above the stream dimly in the evening
light. Maxwell cautiously s~crutinized
each muddy log and suspicious projec-
ton, aware by experience how easily
the long. still amphibians might be mis-
taken for . mud imbedded tree trunk,
but he saw 70 signs and returned to
camp with his water pals. As he ap-
! preached, the other two were busy and
did not hear him. The sergeant was
STOPPING over the fire, now lighted, his
back turned to the young trooper. His
coat was thrown aside, and his shirt
had been disarranged by the armfuls of
wood he had been carrying to the fire.
a portion Of his waist was plainly seen
in the light of the flames. Maxwell
looked and gasped and dropped a billy
full of water. The sergeant turned at
the clatter and faced him.
Whats the matter, young un? By
George, you look white! Is it a croco-
dile?"
He ran for his gun in almost a panic,
for the pioneers held the loathsome rep
tiles il greater horror even than lions.
Maxwell had time to recover himself
and forced a laugh.
II stumbled" he said. YOU'RE "
fully scared of the brutes, Wayne"
Il am" said the sergeant, with a
shudder. II was swimming the UNI
BETH alongside MacMahon that time
when he and his horse We're both pulled
down. | dream Of it still"
Maxwell rose after supper, when the
other two lit their pipes. II he had been
pale when be dropped the billy BE was
flushed loyg
Sergeant" he said, "if it's not
against orders, I'd Ike to try a shot at
those brutes before dark, if there are
any lying about Oh the banks"
''Cf course, of course, old man. said
the sergeant easily. THERE'S no com
handing officer about with bothering
regulations, and, to till the truth, I'm