The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1913-10-30
I-tcontinued).

top since ~, to Hogjaw; but the Ave
wooden legs of Captain Tink letoes me
kept for himself, just keepsakes.
The next day Michigan beckoned
Aurelie out to the bayou side, where
he and the Bia oma had hadia brief
talk. He lifted the child and pointed
her hand Off to the north. Now were
done goin to occupy the landi"
What land is that, Michigan?"
THE and o. joyI" he cried, shining
He motioned to the Indian woman.
''We'i take this we're little girl and
drift way OFF yander to all The places
she amt ever seen First we'll pole
the ole john-boat down to Grand Isle
so she'll see the ocean. Then We'll
drift OFF Atchafalaya bay and she'll
see the big woods. Then wen drift
she'll see all the states and countries!
What names is them I done told you,
AureIie-the music namesW .
"Californy," she said simply.
And next one?" N a.
"Arizony.'F grg@ wise
"And Montany. and Ioway and Ten
nessee and OhioI All then weu see
and more! Lead US to the land o.
joy!" 10 t &.r." .
And all her strange after-life OF
laughter and of a h little girl
remembered the old soldier waving
his hand to the undiscovered countries.
And always she knew he was at heart
the poet, the adventurer, the lover,
whatever else he might be; nothing
could change that.
So the next day they piled old traps
and boxes and blankets and hound
pups and the aye wooden legs OF Cap
tain Tinkletoes as ~keepsakes into the
! john boat and set OFF to find the land
Of Joy with music names. South and
mast fhrnIIUh lhrfllonf ugilnnFnn QaQa
polling through lily jams. sailing
swamp lakes. padding salt marshes.
Shrimp camps, oyster platforms, ter
rapin hunters OF Grand Isle-they
wandered and worked. and .SAurelle
came to know other children of all
hues and races, and at the island balls
learned to dances with orange blossoms
in her hair, The murmur of the sea
wa In her ears, the moonlight ON the
oaks in her ayes, and with the droning
Creole violins she awakened to gaiety,
losing the droll seriousness Of a
savage. Also, for the first time,
she had her face washed cleanly
knew then she was not Of the
undecipherable Chino Spanish Filipino
breed OF the shrimp platform villages,
But when the balls were over, q shifty-
footed and suspicious savage woman
took Aurelia n led her off to their
IdBBCu NChS. p <l"dJ0 ILIOu6h IlIC piuI
of queer faces-black, brown, yellow,
white-Aurelia remembered the watch
full owe in h eyes of the basket maker
and of Uncle Michigan. Always, for
these were what she knew Of love!
From the Gulf coast islands they
went west n north, and in the years
the child became a girl, slender, 1.-the,
swift-keen of eye On q deer trail, trap
ping the mink and ~raccoons, following
the wild bees flight, weaving baskets
with strong brown fingers to lure the
shrimp from under the lilies, balancing
herself to shoot in a ticklish running
piregue' that would steal through the
swamps where a heavier hunter dared
not follow. Thus h grew, with eve
a Qualm for the blood Of the hunted nor
q doubt Of the Makers intent. But at
IL. she was a woman, blithe and IN
thinking and kind hearted, without
fear, without guile. e..
Perhaps! " a,
At any rate. one day, censured by
the Indian woman, h stole from
camp, SWAN Grand river with her
her head, dressed in the woods and ap-
peared at a Cajun ball--with a Wild
hyacinth In, her hair. She danced and
laughed and bewildered h woodsmen,
pretending to know nc English when
the Yankees addressed her, and no
cIGHCH WuGu bpOhCH " III LldA IOIlB uC.
But standing In the heated ballroom"
she sang q barbaric song the Indian
woman had taught her. posed with an
odd theatric fancy, and then ran away
leaving them gaping. ,
When she swan to the john boat at
dawn and put her hand upon Michi-
gan's as he fished, Re started, tried to
swear helplessly and stopped.
But amt 7 grousd up nowT' she
laughed. @o- .
"pamme! How we goin' to do If you
"Which-a-way?" And hi drew up
her naked little body, poised on the
boat, pressed her hands over her
swelling breasts and stared to the
to see all the states and lands with
the music names you tel. of 2"
"Aurelia, you air gettin' to be such
a big girl and such a pretty girl as I
dunno II we ought to let. you see all
them countries" ..s >".. ..
"Then IN run off and see EN- my
Belf!"- '|.F. -
But at last they came out on the
mighty river that Michigan had not
seen since he left his leg at Vicksburg;
and another year found them, at Mem
phis among the shanty-boat folk. Then
a government .dredge towed them up
river, the Bia woman cooking for the
GIOWsr ~ AACAA u1Co W WntIh - Llllu
who, from her houssboat deck, would
put a bit of tinsel or b flower in her
hair and stare DOVE "a the water to
admire the picture. a. would smooth
her gypsy dress over her hips, un-
noticing her audience. II they hailed
her she pretended not to hear them.
They would not believe she was but
13, SO tropicallv primal was her wom-
anhood, SO tantalizingly wise her re-
serve. S
SO. up the great river Of her dreams
they went for months and months.
F. Then, one night on the Minnesota
shore. the rdredge burned, and Uncle
Michigan cut the house-boat loose. II
bumped on down the river again to
come airnlessly adrift in a pocket of
the Iowa hills. There It stuck, and Ill
the dreamy summer the weeds aud
sands thickened about until 1t could
drift no more. ~ "a.N .. a..
And one day the. exiles climbed a
nearby hill to look down on a town
buried In September naples; a decent
church spire here and there. the clock
tower OF the court house in the square,
and farmer folk driving homeward.
ON this rrosy common day OF the
northern midlands, Aurelia, with the
good humored curiosity OF a savage,