St. Tammany farmer., 1922-09-16
"Driye down to Paradis 4 l,.,,,, H.,

"Drtve down TO Paradis IN th0 n sssssH
ing, Ben; get into touch with Hss. y
mond, and discover what tirne
mont got home tonight. WritA Sssgas
what you find out. Then take c.
Of things at the GuEberts placa mn HI
sure that every car is handled fir
A headquarters man from Mobl1. .
be here tomorrow to trace th4
pareil Twelve that Gramont
owns" 'ssaaa
Chacherre whlstled under his 81
"What?"
Jachin Fell smiled slight No. 20
nodded. "Yes. II Gramont reanss
at Paradis, I may send him 81, M
therein not sure yet. / intanll sssg
get something on that man liz
mond." 71lssssylzsa
but you can't land him that -.
master! He bought the car 1ssssE|
"'And who sold the car to tl,a
rage people7 They bought Ii ,IsBs|
Gently" A peculiar smile twtalS
Fell's lips awry. ''In fact
bought 1t from man named Hs.
mond, as the evidence will SHOW
clearly"
Ben Chacherre started, since III S
sold that cur himself. Then &
grin came into his thin feature
grin that widened into a noi,eIa 4
laugh.
Master, you are magnificent 4 i
said, and rose. "Well, IL there ii nolSas
Ing further on hand, shall 60 to bedsz
An excellent program" said Iaehltts
Fell, and took his hat from the
II must get some sleep myself. n
They left the Office and tho buiIl
Ing together.
Three hours afterward the taxn
had set ina cold, gray and disua
dawn that rose upon city lltt@adEa|
with the aftermath of carnival. II eal,I
Wednesday" 1t was, In sober fac5tla
THUG far, the city In general war IN
norant Of the tragedy which had takenSRR
place at the very conclusions IL
gayest carnival season. Within Il
hours business and social cife
would be swept by the fact of JosenIT
Maillard's murder, but at thfa aarlIEs!
point of the day the city slept. 1h1E
morning papers, which today caniss
news story that promised to IN II
and stun the entire community Nee
not yet distributed. I'D
Rising before daylight, Henry nrss
mont and Hammond breakfastea go
and were off by six In the car. Ihel
were well outside town and sweeping
on their way to Terrebonne par1et
and the town OF Paradis before thesSs
realized that the day was not Roln I
to brighten appreciably. Instead
remained very cloudy and gioomy
with a chill threat of rain In. the air.sszEE
Weather mattered little to Gramoat
When finally the excellent llighHsz
was left behind, and they started q D
the last lap Of their seventy mile ri6l
they found the parish roads execrableS
and the going slow. Thus, noon va1
at hand when they at length pulled H.
to Paradis, the town closest to Iueie
Ledanois' bayou land The rain
still holding off. 60
TOO cold to rain,' observed afa,
mont. Lets hit for the hotel and
get something to eat. I'll have
locate the land, which Is somewhere
near town."
They discovered the hotel to III 4.
ancient structure and boastlng prIcs
worthy OF Lafltte and his buccaneers
AS In many small towns Of Louisianag
however, the food proved ut fur u
king. After a light luncheon Of quail
crayfish bisque, and probably Illegal
/ venison, Gramont sighed regret that
he could eat no more, and set about
inquirfng where the Ledanols farm Iay.S9
There was very little, indeed toa
Paradis, which lay on the bayon bit
well away from the railroad It wa1 ~
desolate spot, unpainted and unkenpk
The parish seat of Houma had robbed
it Of all life and growth on the or
hand; on the other, the new oil an6
gas district had not yet touched t..
Southwark lay the swamp fully
forty miles Of It, merging BY degrees
into the Gulf. Forty miles Of cypreal
marsh and winding bayou. uncharted
unexplored save by occasional hunter9
or semi occasional sherifrs. No man
knew who or what might be In th0ses
swamps, and no one cared to know
The man who brought Id fish ~,
oysters In his skiff might be q bAyo1I
fisherman, and he might be q mttsf
derer wanted In ten states. Curiosity
was apt to prove extremely unhealthy
Like the Atchafalaya, where chaness
travellers find themselves abruptly or
dered elsewhere, the Terrebonns
swamps have their own secretS Aild
know how to keep them. sss1
Gramont had no difficulty IN slocatk
ing the Ledanois land, and be foun1
that 1t was by no means In the swamp
A part Of 1t, lying closer to Houme.
had been sold and was now includeds
In the new oil district; 1t was this poF
tion which Joseph Maillard had son
off.
The remainder, and the largest pofs
tion, lay north Of Paradis and ra1lz
along the west bank OF the bayou Sfofl
half a mile. A 1ong-abandoned farm
1t was high ground, with the tiInbee
well cleared off and excellently l0.s
Gated; but tenants were hard to ges2
( and shiftless when obtained. 20 fhats
the place had not been farmed for fl10s
last five years or more. After getting