The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-10-05

ora to come and shut Ii, but she
seemed to have gone away, or else TO
be very sound asleep.
At last l drowsed off again, but was
awakened by some heavy creature
dashing furiously over the coverlet of
my cot. A chair was upset in the
darkness, and the water basin clat-
tered off the stand! My first thought
was that it must be pig or q dog
that had come in at the open door.
"Shoo. Shoo." | yelled. Get out, you
tike."
Over went the wash-stand, and on
the instant l felt the brute land on
my feet. had honestly thought that
| could not move, but in a sudden
ecstasy of fear drew up both feet and
kicked.
Clatter-smash went basin, stand and
chairs again, and then swish, with a
Whit Of repulsive odor, some heavy
very face!
Before l knew it, was sitting up,
striking out with both hands. The
beast, whatever it was, landed with a
thump on the floor, and then | heard
it crawling horribly, scratching its
nails on the tiles! No dog or pig
would ever make a noise like that,
was sure. What could it be?
Under my pillow | had one Of those
little vest pocket electric lights. such
as are now sold cheaply at all the
large stores l had brought it with
me from home, and had found it very
handy at night for looking at my
watch. Hastily now fumbled for it,
and finding it. pressed the button. The
tiny bright beam pierced the dark
ness-and there, squatted, blinking,
on my trunk, close to the foot of the
cot, was the worst looking object that
had ever seen. 1t was brown, scaly,
horrible, with a ridge of brist!ing
spines rising along it's back. and its
CLASSY eyes were fixed on me-.
What could it be? l could think
only of ella monster. Was the ISL
and infested with them? Or was 1t
crawled up from the sea?
My hand shook as l tried to keep
the beam OF light focused on the hor-
TOR. Perhaps | dazzled its eyes with
it. In jumped. struck on the foot Of
the cot-and about that time jumped
too!
I don't know how I did it, but I
leaped out of that cot and actually
ran out at the door into the patio! I
was shouting. too, shouting, Help!
Help"
In fact, I nearly ran into the Sonora
Rafaela, who had heard me call her.
and in her own good time was COM
ing to see what l wanted.
Naturally the woman was aston
ished. "Senor! Senior Estevan!" she
cried. rs it thou?'
Fetch a light! Fetch light" l
cried. There's ella monster in my
room!" For that was all could
think of as I staggered about there in
the darkness, trying to keep on my
feet.
She brought a candle, and after
striking number Of matches, lighted
it and peered into the room. Look
OUT" I cautioned her. "Cudia! It will
jump at you!"
But the Sonora Rafaela laughed,
wholly unterrified. mo tenga miedo,
senior" (Do not fear), said she, sooth-
ingly. "Es guiana solamente." ct is
only a 'guana)
"'Guana!" exclaimed.
Isl, senior. Els guiana. Lo mismo
ticken. All same ticken"
"Ticken?' said l. What is that?
Chicken"
Isl, senior. Muy bueno para la COM
ida Very good to eat" And march
ing in with her candle, she captured
the horrible creature by the tail,
dragged it, scratching on the tiles. in
to the other room, and shut the door.
which the wind had blown open.
l returned to my cot with much
matter for reflection, but had the SEN
ora leave the candle burning. Como
to think of it, had never seen nor
heard any chickens about the place;
yet the senora's supply of cold
chicken" seemed unlimited. "All the
same ticken!" Those were her
chickens" then-and felt rather
sick when l thought Of the quantity
of it which l had eaten.
imagined that had something to
tell the doctor when he came to see
me that morning. Doctor" l said, do
you know what We are all eating here
for cold chicken?"
"Oh, yes" said he, laughing. 1T is
guiana. But it's just as good. Why,
all chickens, all fowls and birds of