Page:St. Nicholas - Volume 41, Part 2.djvu/17



THE

SEA-HORSE OF GRAND TERRE

BY CHARLES TENNEY JACKSON

ALLESJANDRO, the seine-captain, first told the men at Chinese Platforms that the light-keeper at Grand Terre Island was sick. One of the Zelie’s crew had gone ashore for water, and reported that old Miller was “done beat out with feveh.” The Zelic had two hundred dollars’ worth of shrimp which a few hours’ delay under the Lou- isiana sun would spoil, so the lugger sailed for the drying platforms, where Allesjandro told Mr. West, the camp boss.

And the camp boss turned with simple confi- dence to his sturdy sixteen-year-old son, who, that morning, was idling in the shade of the com- missary with his chum, George Fernald.

“Better go see to the old man, Paul. The Two Sisters is flying the catch-flag, and the launch is going to tow her in. Landry will put you ashore, and you can hike up the beach with some lemons and stuff. See if he needs the doctor.”

And blazing hot as low-lying Grand Terre ap- peared in the September calm, the boys were eager to go. Miller was a friend of Paul's. In half an hour, they had the few delicacies and sim- ple remedies which the camp possessed, and were on the launch speeding for the outlying reef. For a week, black, majestic storm-clouds had swung about Barataria Bay, at intervals, for this was the time of the equinox, when the south coast had been swept time and again by the West In- dian hurricanes. Still the shrimp luggers went out, and when the boys landed in the salt marsh, they saw the Two Sisters, limp-sailed and far on the

gulf, but flying the red flag that told of a success- ful catch. The launch went on through Four Bayou Pass to meet her, while the lads turned up the six-mile beach to the lighthouse.

“Dad said that Gaspar, who takes care of the oyster-beds here and keeps an eye on our cattle, might round up a couple of horses for us,” com- mented Paul. “But all the stock seems to be miles away, and Gaspar is n’t around his shack.”

They passed the tiny, palm-thatched hut perched on a ten-foot platform above the tides. The mud beneath was trampled where the stock sought refuge from the sun, and here Paul pointed out a great hoof-mark.

“That 's Big King's, the stallion that Father turned loose here when he went into this experi- ment with stock on the salt marsh. He has never been able to recapture him since. Gaspar com- plains that the white stallion hates him, and chases him every time he goes ashore. The Zclie's crew say that they saw Big King follow Gaspar in his skiff away out in decp water, and that the Cajun! was so scared that, finally, he dived over and swam to their boat. Gaspar sometimes declares he will shoot the horse or quit his job!”

“Must be a regular old sea-horse!” laughed George. “Is that him—that beautiful big white fellow over in the mangroves?”

“Yes,”” Paul whispered cautiously. “And don't provoke him to charge us—there is n't a place to escape him if he does!”

1A contraction of the word ‘* Acadian,” used in Louisiana to designate the descendants of the early French settlers -7 exiled from Nova Scotia, as described in ‘‘ Evangeline.”

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Gougle

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