The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-10
A Yankee Trick.


The yujnuj.~ ci&Nnlth America. hay
Ing been composed Of different nation
alities. were ,:iyfr4". Now York was
Dutch while the adjacent colony on
the east. tnnnoclicut. Was English.
ana the tWu no more mingled than oil
and water Indeed. The border line
was The scene Of Il continuous quarrel.
On on" side Of this line lived iona
than Fylu. Il Young Yankee. while on
the ether lived Katrina Blcckcr. 4
young Dutch girl Pym used to stray
pcross the boundary line To hunt ana
fish in the DutchmenS territory. which
only tended To increase the hostility
between the two peoples, especially
firing the sluggish Dutchmen against
the sharp WitteI New Highlander. But
when il was learned that .JonathHn'S
incurSions were for very different
game than fish or fowl indeed tlIat he
was counting Katrina Rlcekcr. all the
Dutchmcn or the border laid down
their clay pipes. set their schnapp>
mugs on the table and vowed that 10
Dutch girl should marry with The
hated Yankees. Then they took up
their pipes and their mugs and began
to consider how they should prevent
such Il horrible catastrophe The rc-
suit was that Katrina WAS shut UP in
one Of those little forts built along the
eastern edge of the Dutch colony.
When jonathan sr"Xt stole over The
border to The t"yStiug place he did not
find his love- but Il note %eribbcd in
Il mixture Of Dutch and English tell
ing that She expected to he shut up
immediately in the fort Jonathan
went back 10 hi; people and told them
of his; misfortune. They listened 10
him with occasional interruptions
such rs Dew tell" and WANT t
know" and when he had finished and
asked them 10 help him out of the
difficulty they volunteered to \ man.
The next day all the Yankees living
near Jonathan's home collected, with
pixies. matchlocks. Scythcs and pitch
forks, and set out for the fort where
Katrina was Il prisoner. The approach
was over an open field. ana the Dutch
man on guard in the fort happened to
be awake. He raised the alarm and
presently Il little six FOUNDER sent II
shot over the heads of the advancing
Yankees. Jonathan called halt
Now. Jonathan did not wish to sacri-
fec the lives of his friends simply to
gain wife for himself. 50 he invested
the fort. hoping to Starve out the @arri-
son. But. whether it was that fear had
taken away the Dutchmcn's appetite or
that the fort was well stored With pro
visions, the starvation process was Il
failure. Still there must be IL dcarth
of fresh food. for the Yankees had kept
the vendcrs of pcrishabe property
away. Jonathan. true to his Yankee
blood, preferred stratagem to blood
shed and concluded to try to reduce the
fort by the former method He with
drew his forces from one of the ap-
proachcs. SWainpy piece Of ground.
leaving the Dutchmen to suppose that
he had been driven off by the mos
quitopS. Then he concentrated the pi.in-
cipal part of his force behind Il barn
that had been incautiously left stand
ing quite near the fort
The next morning the Dutchmcn saw
j number of women. with baskets on
their arms, making their way across
the swamp. They came on. chatting
among themselves, and when Il short
distance from the fort sat down their
baskets and themselves for Il rest The
baskets contained butter and c.:"s. and
the women kept mp Il clatter.- discuss
ing the merits of their produce and
what prices they would get for it when
they reached the settlement. The sight
Of the rolls of fresh butter ana the
white eggs tickled the stomachs OF the
Dutchncn gaping ut them over the
parapct Of the fort. and it was not long
before the women were hailed 10 know
if they would sell and why 50 many of
them were together They replied that
they would sell if they could get as
much for their wares as at the settle
ment and that they were going to
gether for protection from the IN
dianS, whcrcUpon they were invited
into the fort. This was part of iona
than's Yankee trick. He had dressed
himself and q dozen of his adhercnts
like DutchWomcn. and each had arms
concealed under his feminine apparel
He alone replied 10 the hail from the
fort. for he alone had learned enough
Dutch from Katrina to reply and could
sufficiently conceal the Yankee nasal
twang to prevent being discovered for
what he was, though the Dutchmen
were not quick at seeing through STRAIT
agem and he might well have strained
a point. BE this as it may, the catns;
of the fort We're thrown open, and the
butter and egg vendors entered.
They had scarcely got inside and set
down their baskets when the main
Yankee force concealed behind the
/ barn made Il rush upon the gates. The
Dutchmen were about to run to The as
sistance of those who were shutting
them when they were set upon by the
women and either held or driven back.
while those coming from without over
came the gateIncn. and in Il few min
,,tnc. III. b,J, army yynS i'm