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Strange True Stories of Louisiana

Chapter 8 DOWN BAYOU PLAQUEMINE-THE FIGHT WITH WILD NATURE

Word Count: 1418    |    Released on: 01/12/2017

talans, Acadians, negroes, and Indians. When Suzanne and Maggie, accompanied by my father and John Gordon, went ashore, I declined to follow, preferring to sta

y the current. The people of Plaquemine had forewarned our men and recommended the greatest prudence. "Do everything possible to hold back your boat, for if you strike any of those tree-trunks

d trees in which the lakes and bayous of Attakapas abound. But how clouded was Carpentier's brow! And my father? Ah! he repented enough. Then he realized that gold is not always the van

their feet, and bows on shoulder-Indians indeed, with women simply wrapped in blankets, and children without the shadow of a garment; and all these Indians running, calling to one another, making signs to us, and

he Indians clapped their hands, laughing with pleas

showed us two deer and some wild turkeys and ducks, the spoils of their hunting. Then came the women laden with sacks made of bark and full of bla

ed to go, because of her children. As to Alix and me, a terrible contest was raging in us between fright and curiosity, but the latter conquered. Suzanne and papa laughed so about our fears that Alix, less cowardly than I, yielded first, and joined the others. This was too much. Grasping my fa

e for these savages to get rid of us and take all our possessions. But the poor devils certainly never thought of it: th

apa bought for mamma thirty-two little baskets fitting into one another, the largest about as tall as a child of five years, and the smallest just large enough to receive a thimble. When he asked the price I expected to hear the seller say at least thirty dollars, but his humble reply was five d

ill pr

of us, even Maggie, secured a broad parti-colored mat to use on the deck as a couch à la Turque. Our last purchases were two Indian bows pai

a hundred years old. She sat on a mat upon the earth, her arms crossed on her breast, her eyes half closed, muttering between her teeth something resembling a prayer. She paid no attention to us, and after a moment we went out. We entered two or three other huts and found the same pover

s and my two pretty little brothers, whom I might never see again, and I was swallowed up. Then Suzanne would make fun of me and Alix would caress me, and that did me good. There were many bayous,-a labyrinth, as papa said,-and Mario had his map at hand showing the way

do with us in that cavern. Often our emigrants were forced to take their axes and hatchets in hand to open a road. At other times tree-trunks, heaped upon one another, completely closed a bayou. Then think what trouble there was to unbar that gate and pass

TNO

of, the Mississippi, and, like i

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1 Chapter 1 Gibraltar falls 3432 Chapter 2 No.23 Chapter 3 No.34 Chapter 4 THE TWO SISTERS.5 Chapter 5 MAKING UP THE EXPEDITION.6 Chapter 6 THE EMBARKATION7 Chapter 7 ALIX CARPENTIER8 Chapter 8 DOWN BAYOU PLAQUEMINE-THE FIGHT WITH WILD NATURE9 Chapter 9 THE TWICE-MARRIED COUNTESS.10 Chapter 10 ODD PARTNERS IN THE BOLERO DANCE.11 Chapter 11 A BAD STORM IN A BAD PLACE.12 Chapter 12 MAGGIE AND THE ROBBERS13 Chapter 13 ALIX PUTS AWAY THE PAST.14 Chapter 14 ALIX PLAYS FAIRY.-PARTING TEARS.15 Chapter 15 LITTLE PARIS.16 Chapter 16 THE COUNTESS MADELAINE.17 Chapter 17 POOR LITTLE ALIX! 18 Chapter 18 THE DISCOVERY OF THE HAT19 Chapter 19 THE BALL.20 Chapter 20 SALOME AND HER KINDRED.21 Chapter 21 SIX MONTHS AT ANCHOR.22 Chapter 22 FAMINE AT SEA.23 Chapter 23 SOLD INTO BONDAGE.24 Chapter 24 THE LOST ORPHANS.25 Chapter 25 CHRISTIAN ROSELIUS.26 Chapter 26 No.2627 Chapter 27 THE TRIAL.28 Chapter 28 THE EVIDENCE29 Chapter 29 THE CROWNING PROOF.30 Chapter 30 JUDGMENT.31 Chapter 31 AS IT STANDS NOW.32 Chapter 32 MADAME LALAURIE.33 Chapter 33 A TERRIBLE REVELATION.34 Chapter 34 No.3435 Chapter 35 A NEW USE.36 Chapter 36 FURNISHED ROOMS.37 Chapter 37 JOHN BULL.38 Chapter 38 DUCOUR'S MEDITATIONS.39 Chapter 39 PROXY.40 Chapter 40 THE NUNCUPATIVE WILL.41 Chapter 41 SECESSION.42 Chapter 42 THE VOLUNTEERS.-FORT SUMTER.43 Chapter 43 TRIBULATION.44 Chapter 44 A BELEAGUERED CITY.45 Chapter 45 MARRIED.46 Chapter 46 HOW IT WAS IN ARKANSAS.47 Chapter 47 THE FIGHT FOR FOOD AND CLOTHING.48 Chapter 48 DROWNED OUT AND STARVED OUT.49 Chapter 49 HOMELESS AND SHELTERLESS.50 Chapter 50 FRIGHTS AND PERILS IN STEELE'S BAYOU.51 Chapter 51 WILD TIMES IN MISSISSIPPI.52 Chapter 52 VICKSBURG.53 Chapter 53 PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE.54 Chapter 54 THE SIEGE ITSELF.55 Chapter 55 GIBRALTAR FALLS.