The sun., 1902-12-28

tho Mosquito Hawk after dark and there
are books on swinging shelves.
| squat mast let into the forward deck Of
the boat and with wet sheet and how
ing bayou OF bay she makes four miles
an hour. When the wind IL not fair the
cable Is run to bank and the crew goes out
shooting.
| The craft Ia houseboat, all right. for the
upper part OF the house projects above the
deck the height Of . mans head and has a
roof on IL and windows In II. The roof il
nat and makes q good place TO Lie on when
the crew would blow q cloud. Tho deck
furniture consists Of half dozen raw
failed down. poles with which to set up
an awning or fend of bank and a couple
of small boats in which to retrieve game
shot over wide wsts-.
The Mosquito Hawk was named in a
moment Of inspiration. az she is less like a
mosquito hawk than anything else In the
world That insect II slender, and she is
tubby: il IL graceful and fairylike. and she
is coarse and material: II II brilliantly
hued, and she is dirty brown all over;
It is alert and strangely swift and with every
condition of wind and tide In her favor an
anchor il the only sea-going thing she can
show her heels to.
Bluff and brown, hearty. hardy, stubborn
indolent and self-opinionated. az she floats
solidy at rest IN the :.Nuthern winter sun.
she is instantly ,minGful OF one OF lrving's =
knckerbocke. fathers, pipe in mouth and
hands in the side pockets Of wide-bot-
toned shorts, placidly superior To the
universe.
The syllables Of Mosquito Hawk are mouth
flling in gale OF wind, or to speak sleepily
after dinner. so by common consent the
name has been shortened to -Skeeter
That is more appropriate, since the stanch
but nearly stationary vessel sometimes
provokes profanity.
The crew consists Of the owner, whose
overseer plants SO acres in sugar-cane Tor
him, and he is known as the Farmer. a
fell hunter and a great shot; the Doctor,
who has never had. and does not want,
enough practice To bother him, fat and
rubicund. a man of the table, learned in the
mysteries of sauces. the Engineer, who has
offices in New York city and went South
for fanciad lung-ache. but really because
be likes mallards, and the Emancipated
Journalist. who has grown too old and lazy
for newspaper harness and pridefully says
that he is--or will be some day-an author.
All of these men have love in common
for the combing reach Of sea. the nodding
and rustling OF brown marsh gr asses wind
swept. the intensely blue sky with cloud
ships sailing over. the multifarious changing
features OF lagoon. bayou and creek, TIE
smiles and storms OF winter. gray days Ind
bright days. the ardor OF long toll. the san-
gIorous rest which comes after II, and, more
than all. for the crack of the fowlinE piece
and the sudden shapeless checkin/ OF the
mass OF feathers in air-a longing FOR out
of-door life tersely expressed by Lle Doctor:
III i were rich man j wokldn't wear
boiled shirts for more than oys week in a
year
The master Of the craft, We skipper, the
boss. is Alphonse, though he is down In
snps articles as cook With a salary OF a
dollar day and all he ca/l drink. Alphonse
gets firewood and psepAres the meals and
deck, which takes haT his time. The other
half is spent in argfAing with, persuading.
chlding or ordering his employers.
lie Is 6O, feeI inches high, quite
feet wide with teth as sound as nuts, bare
poll fringed wfh snowy wool and skin
eye. Alph0nAe. in 6e vernacular of Louis
lana white nAn. is a French nigger, which
Is to say that thohgh he Is Of unmixed Afri-
can blood. AZ hiI swartness testites, he and
his forbears hLve been owned by French
Sreoles he sJeaks the 'Cadian patois with
iish with Harked idiom and accent. He
learned hV, trade-it is really worthy to be
called 'profession--in the restaurants OF
the olde/ quarter of New Orleans and for his
skill rvIch Is forgiven him.
FrYn the low-lying lands about the
SkeY.er as she swings at moor.ng the
dov olebarrels bark through the day. The
bUie wisps Of smoke float upward from the
outer end Of long sandy point which
'thrusts itself into the salt waves and geese
or bran' whirl over and over in descent,
or the d )ctor and Engineer. knee-high in
marsh grass with a soggy soil underfoot,
are shooting in competition at jacksnipe,
the loser to 60 into the hold at eventide
and bring up beer and pull corks and pour
and profer the glass as often as his con-
queror shall demand; or the Farmer, being
barred from such contests. Is in his blind
a mile away, with closely choked l0-gauge
taking long-range single shots at crossing
bluebills, disdaining any bird which comes
within fifty yards. while the Emancipated
Journalist is in the gallery under pretense
Of learning Alphonss's unassimi Ia BILE
French, but really trying to master one Of
his guarded recipes
They are having good times on board the
Skeeter, where the semi-tropic su-f rolls
on the packed sands and every breath OF
breeze is freighted with health. and the
thought Of it makes the city packhorse
| whinny angrily and lash out with his heels
against the goads Of fate.