Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1913-10-16
land!' How'd you find him, Michigan.
Did he done come right out q q Cloud

| land!' How'd you find him, Michigan.
Did he done come right out q a cloud
O. glory?"
Michigan pushed aside. the mosquito
bars under the palm thatch where q
tiny fire f1ickered in the clay furnace.
He famed it with his hat n the child
gravely watched one old man n then
the other. One was tall and the other
short, but each had lost a leg! The
two brass bands shone yaiiafisy. She
smiled out of her dark-eyed, thin little
face which had looked upon much brief
change and Indifference in a meager
little life and was not given to whim-
| pering.
Wasn't no cloud O. glory" answered
Michigan, mournfully. II lone could
MT get hold of a child anywhere till.
along come a lot of orphans with them
convent sisters. And 1 see the %littlest
and just then the sisters got fus-
tered with all the Mardy Graws blow
in horns and yellin'-"
Done know'd it," crowed Old Man
Captain delightedly. IA cloud O. glory
or some excitement!"
odd Man Captain, I got to tell you
something. I grabbed the %littlest one
with the little blue pants: but we
made an awful mistaken"
"Huccome mistake, Michtgan?"
She's a grill"
Old Man Captain looked fearfully at
Aurelie in the gloom Of the falling
night. go on, now" he murmured.
go on, now!"
How could I tell when she had ON
Old Man! And we got'way down In
the swamps before I found out"
Old Man Captain could hardly whis-
per. He peered at his partner doubt
fully. "Huccome you find out, Michi-
GAM"
. Michigan vas more terribly embar-
rassed than he had been since the sur
render. His pink cheeks burned, while
his partner pulled his w white beard
%nervously. "Huccome, Michigan?''
gasped Old Man Captain.
"Oh, we'll, equivocated Michigan, II
see a little chain with a silver cross
hangin' about her neck under her
dress, so I just got to peekin' round!"
Old Man Captain was terribly
shocked. He spat off in the swamp as
he squatted by the fire. The serpent
dering they had their first dilemma.
''How's a girl goin' to lead 'em?" asked
Old Man Captain mournfully.
Michigan raised his eyes with a great
idea. Who said a girl couldn't? Reck-
on nothin' was said In your revelation
about it bein' a boy? 1t just said
child!'
~ 4ol SdPld1A Idl Su. Liz EIGdk
idea was too big for him. The mosqui-
toes We're drifting in with their night
fall singsong, and when they bit Au-
relic she Whimpered, and her dark ayes
sought Old Man Captains ap~pealingly.
She put out a trustful hand to touch
his wooden leg. That was too much.
He smiled. She crawled over and pat
ted Michigan's wooden leg. The two
shy old swampers laughed. together.
We done got a baby, Michigan!"
we done have, Old Mani! All along
O. yore crazy notion! You wouldn't let
me alone till 1 go to N'Awlyns and get
a child to bring up"
a nj no crazy notion. 1t was re-
vealed to me, I done tell you. But I
reckon it didn't say it had to be a
boy exactly"
"Well Old Man, If we keep this girl
we got to quit driftin' round the
swamps. No more b~ush-cattin. upriver
lin down the lakes, or diggin' UP the
shells for pirates hide-ups. No, sir-if
we keep her we got to stay right here
like we was a family"
Old Man Captain stared again. This
was a sudden turning Of the long road.
Of romance. Thirty ear he and Mich,
igan had f1shed and seined and trapped
treasure from Grand Isle to Butte La
Rose, and this was the first time fate
had put a finger across the path. He
rubbed his head. Reckon so. Bein' q.
girl, I reckon sol"
Got to stay right yere," pursued
Michigan relentlessly, ian make q
home and get a woman"
"a woman?" That was. too much.
Old Man Captain was dismayed.
yes sir. How's two old fool john
niles like you and me goin' to raise her
to be a lady IL we amt got a woman?"
Now you begin to raise problems
when I thought everything was ca'am,''
Quavered his partner.
well, how's she goin' to lead 'em IL
b amt raised to be a lady?,'
Old Man Captain could not answer
II reckon" he murlnured. "Only yere,s
you and me hung together year in and
out since h surrender, and every
Christmas, Michigan, I whittle out q
new leg for Q and you whittle out
one for me. and nary q word o. VIM
min. Twenty-eight legs we cut out for
each other. and nary q word O. VIM
mini"
We'll, yere we are,s retorted Michigan
helplessly, ""got to have a woman. Meb-
be we can get one Of the Chino VIM
men from b platforms, or mebbe we
can get the Bia Woman"
Continued next week.)