The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-01-27

ers; and BY rounding up he PIC
among tn bushes and getting cnel
going all together along this path,
contriyei 10 run them into my pc,
and enclosed them by blocking up III
! entrance They We're frantic wit
terror al first, bug | had construct
my pen so well tina. they oolld ne
! get out.
But now, having deprived them o
their liberty, | found myself oblige
TO feed them. and spent most of III,
spare time dragging seaweed to III
pen.
1T is odd how much you will come
TO care for an animal which YOU nav,
TO feed At first | hal It'll. com
junction about killing The pigs, bu
now | began to like the little blacl
fellows, and hatei to slaugh er one
They soon grew tame when they saw
| brought them food; and | had notn
ing else to look at or talk 10, for BY
this time | had ceased 20 look FOR the
Lark My only hope Of getting away
- Jill -hoLLuCSd NdS pAiAcd DA luS
chance of fishing-ves-e. coming
there.
BY the time | had reduced the
number OF pigs to eight | had hem al.
named and knew them by sight Ore
Will have TO be placed as | was place /:
to realize what companionsh!p there
may be in pigs. | called one Black
Sam and another Billy Barlow; AMI
| had Trombone, Jew sharp, Duly,
Eva, Jack-a-Daaly and G. Sharp.
All that | now did for weeks was
to fe.ch seawed TO those pigs. and
watch them and talk to them Hill
ing one came to be a tragedy; yet
hunger, alas. drove me to make pork
Of trombone, Eva, Black Sam, Jews
harp and little pink-noSed billy, sue
cessively | could not bring myself
to single one of them out for slauglt.
er, and used TO take pebbles of the
same size, but different colors, AMI
name them each for pig. When all
was ready | would tell the pigs what
had got to be done, then shake the
pebbles up In my cap, and take out
one without looking. l felt like
cannibal, and actually shed tears over
the little chaps; and by this time, too,
| had grown, oh. so sick OF roasted
pig meat that l would go two days
without eating anything rather than
kill pig and begin on it again!
At last the number was reduced to
Jack-a-Dandy and little G Sharp. Only
two pebbles to shake this time. Hun
ger drove me to it On the third day
1t was Jach-aDandy. But | put OF
killing him until evening"; and even
then 1t VS. only the fear that by
| should be too weak to do
It that finally imp5llei me to action
By this time | had about given Up
hopes OF ever getting away from
Montuosa. Only one pig remained to
ne. | had grown very thin, and was
weak physically and very despondent.
But l think that it was on the third
morning after beginning on Jack-a-
Dandy that I heard a faint noise at
1 distance that sounded much like the
splash Of our pearl-oyster DIRE lge, and
IN Fastening round to the south side
If the islet. 10, there was the old
lark. pearl-tishing again!
when l hailed them the skipper |
stared at me in establishment, which |
could but notice had little joy or
mingled with 1t.
You here YETI he exclaimed.
Small thanks to you | replied. |
You would land man on these bare
ocks and leave him to PERISH
Il must do Skipper Timmons the
ustice to say that he did look
shamed
made no doubt that the greas-
RS got YOU, he said. 1 expected you
'ere in jail somewhere in Costa Rica'
MY greatest salts sact:oa from get
ing back on board the Lark was a
zeal OF hardtack and coffee.
Il went back ashore and fetched
tile G Sharp. | would not leave him
ehind. ! made pen for him on
eek; but two or three days after,
lille l was still laid up in my bunk,
lie unfeeling cook killed and baked
i'm before l learned what he was do
e.
Seven weeks later | took leave OF
kipper Timmons and his LAX in San
ranciscO, without troubling to say ,
ood-by. And you can eat your roast i.
g for all Of me. shall never touch :
again as long as l llve."-Youth's
An Emerald Vase.