Rocky Ford enterprise., 1905-05-26


up tho rear.
inside the stockade were many
signs oI IcarIui Iand-to-hand ngaL'
Inc house OI the LanIIes Mas unharm'
cd. although there were Indications o.
its having been Set ON nre. but the
flames appeared To have died out og
IhemselVes.
There Mas nothing more To be done
at baTataHa. All Ine men. save Bap-
IssIine and his crew. appeared to have
been killed or captured. the buildings
were burned or Gespolled: tho vessels
taken l.ahIIo. therefore. putting
aside an best ho could all emotion
and anxiety. gathered what WAS lett
ot his portable property. and. with
bapIIsIiGv and hIs crew. IosctneT
TAO hEang. late IA Jno day. come
from IRvIT hiding place IN tho woodsJ.
IOoR has Way to smell Island.
The older HcsTocA could tell him
liIiIv more than Nato had already re-
lated. Neither could tHCy give him
any Information bearing upon PIcfTch
late. There wan lett only the hope
Iaai he had escaped ~ shell Island.
where hv might bo found. alive NJ
least. II not unhuTi.
hut Ia this l.aiIlo Was disappointed.
n1miU!Iuv-iOu and hOmc OF his men
had escaped. but the former had seen
NoTE". Who appeared To bs wounded
rS<Eiu,I to boat. anu taken out to tho
NN no, M VI some line after this
thA Al-NIC gathered Il reliable nc
c1uN OI Niu affair. and knew the rca'
son IUg this murdcTUus descent upon
IiaEataE!a. The facts were these:
HeluChc had been received ami
cably 10y Governor Claiborne. who.
after reading l.Aiitto6 letter. setting
forth IN detail the recent offer from
the English. listened To all the BaTa'
tartan my6hcngcr had to say. and in-
formed him that he must. before de-
cidiuK upon reply. consult with Ger.
Iain other officials. lie then. however
Nhilo treating Bciucho and Lopez
with perfect courtesy. held them rs
prisoners.
The conference. In pursuance OF In
VlyatIuna similar To that received by
Gen. - Roche. was held promptly:
aud a large majority OF iiS members
having refused To believe the truth OF
l-aAIIu.R statements, Governor Clhi'
horne. although himself In favor OF
accepting tho barbarian proposition.
allowed the others To Ovcr.rulc him.
The decision was. however. kept
from tho knowledge Of l.aiitic's mes
uCuErTN. as WAS also the fact that n
HI.u. utNI.
I'd 10 descent upon GraTdc Torrc.
More bitter than ever before wcro
i.aEu-'a thoughts that night and tho
following day. All seemed hopeless
90 hopeless that. Ms he reviewed the
situation. he became stunned beyond
all ability to feel the rage which at
another time would have been likely
to control him.
Hut. true to his nature. he did not
permit himself to be overwhelmed
by tho great disaster and sorrow tha,
had come upon him. Atru ~ mcssen.
ger had been dispatched at once to u
point not far from New Orleans.
where were those to be relied upon
Tor the latest news from the city: and.
upon the third day after the attack
uIuu GTandc Tcrrc. the messenger
returned with Information that dc
i"Fmlucd Lailitc to proceed there ut
once.
Pi"rrc was at New Orleans. in Eaol.
wounded; some said mOrtally, others
declared he was dying.
Wrapped In n long. dark cloak.
with the broad brIm Of his hat max.
LATTE. as he stepped aboard the craft
that was to convey him from Shell
Island. looked commanding figure OF
stern sorrow.
Tho men were reluctant to see their
leader going into New Orleans. but
none of them dared express this feel
ing in words. except as they talked
among themselves.
IT any harm comes 10 him we'd
better join the English. and help burn
New Orleans" said one, as they
stream.
"Caramba." growled Spaniard.
at is to the cutting Of the illustrious
Senior Governors throat. would pre-
fer to give my attention.
so would l." declared n Yankee,
lounging next to the last speaker. ut
is the governors fault that .rande
Tcrrc was attacked. Captain Laftte
said sO.'
aye. we all know that" affirmed
several voices, and Nato. unable to en-
durc the hint of harm coming to his
master. rose from his place on the
ioin Scipio and Juniper. who were
sitting by themselves before the door
of Lafitte's cabin.
But here he found the same topic
under discussion. for Scipio was say
ing TO the younger negro, as If in re-
ply to an assertion the Iatter had