VIII.
A BAD STORM IN A BAD PLACE.
The flatboat continued its course, and some slight signs of civilizationbegan to appear at long intervals. Towards the end of a beautiful day inJune, six weeks after our departure from New Orleans, the flatboat stoppedat the pass of Lake Chicot.[13] The sun was setting in a belt of grayclouds. Our men fastened their vessel securely and then cast their eyesabout them.
"Ah!" cried Mario, "I do not like this place; it is inhabited." He pointedto a wretched hut half hidden by the forest. Except two or three littlecabins seen in the distance, this was the first habitation that had metour eyes since leaving the Mississippi.[14]
A woman showed herself at the door. She was scarcely dressed at all. Herfeet were naked, and her tousled hair escaped from a wretched handkerchiefthat she had thrown upon her head. Hidden in the bushes and behind thetrees half a dozen half-nude children gazed at us, ready to fly at theslightest sound. Suddenly two men with guns came out of the woods, but atthe sight of the flatboat stood petrified. Mario shook his head.
"If it were not so late I would take the boat farther on."
[Yet he went hunting with 'Tino and Gordon along the shore, leaving thefather of Francoise and Suzanne lying on the deck with sick headache,Joseph fishing in the flatboat's little skiff, and the women and childrenon the bank, gazed at from a little distance by the sitting figures of thetwo strange men and the woman. Then the hunters returned, supper wasprepared, and both messes ate on shore. Gordon and Mario joining freely inthe conversation of the more cultivated group, and making altogether astrange Babel of English, French, Spanish, and Italian.]
After supper Joseph and Alix, followed by my sister and me, plunged intothe denser part of the woods.
"Take care, comrade," we heard Mario say; "don't go far."
The last rays of the sun were in the treetops. There were flowerseverywhere. Alix ran here and there, all enthusiasm. Presently Suzanneuttered a cry and recoiled with affright from a thicket of blackberries.In an instant Joseph was at her side; but she laughed aloud, returned tothe assault, and drew by force from the bushes a little girl of three orfour years. The child fought and cried; but Suzanne held on, drew her tothe trunk of a tree, sat down, and held her on her lap by force. The poorlittle thing was horribly dirty, but under its rags there were prettyfeatures and a sweetness that inspired pity. Alix sat down by my sisterand stroked the child's hair, and, like Suzanne, spite of the dirt, kissedher several times; but the little creature still fought, and yelled [inEnglish]:
"Let me alone! I want to go home! I want to go home!"
Joseph advised my sister to let the child go, and Suzanne was about to doso when she remembered having at supper filled her pocket with pecans. Shequickly filled the child's hands with them and the Rubicon was passed....She said that her name was Annie; that her father, mother, and brotherslived in the hut. That was all she could say. She did not know herparents' name. When Suzanne put her down she ran with all her legs towardsthe cabin to show Alix's gift, her pretty ribbon.
Before the sun went down the wind rose. Great clouds covered the horizon;large rain-drops began to fall. Joseph covered the head of his young wifewith her mantle, and we hastened back to the camp.
"Do you fear a storm, Joseph?" asked Alix.
"I do not know too much," he replied; "but when you are near, all dangersseem great."
We found the camp deserted; all our companions were on board the flatboat.The wind rose to fury, and now the rain fell in torrents. We descended toour rooms. Papa was asleep. We did not disturb him, though we were greatlyfrightened.... Joseph and Gordon went below to sleep. Mario and his sonloosed the three bull-dogs, but first removed the planks that joined theboat to the shore. Then he hoisted a great lantern upon a mast in the bow,lighted his pipe, and sat down to keep his son awake with stories ofvoyages and hunts.
The storm seemed to increase in violence every minute. The rain redoubledits fury. Frightful thunders echoed each other's roars. The flatboat,tossed by the wind and waves, seemed to writhe in agony, while now andthen the trunks of uprooted trees, lifted by the waves, smote it as theypassed. Without a thought of the people in the hut, I made every effort tokeep awake in the face of these menaces of Nature. Suzanne held my handtightly in hers, and several times spoke to me in a low voice, fearing towake papa, whom we could hear breathing regularly, sleeping without asuspicion of the surrounding dangers. Yet an hour had not passed ere I wassleeping profoundly. A knock on the partition awoke us and made us run tothe door. Mario was waiting there.
"Quick, monsieur! Get the young ladies ready. The flatboat has probablybut ten minutes to live. We must take the women and children ashore. Andplease, signorina,"--to my sister,--"call M. and Mme. Carpentier." ButJoseph had heard all, and showed himself at the door of our room.
"Ashore? At such a time?"
"We have no choice. We must go or perish."
"But where?"
"To the hut. We have no time to talk. My family is ready"....
It took but a few minutes to obey papa's orders. We were already nearlydressed; and as sabots were worn at that time to protect the shoes fromthe mud and wet, we had them on in a moment. A thick shawl and a woolenhood completed our outfits. Alix was ready in a few moments.
"Save your jewels,--those you prize most,--my love," cried Carpentier,"while I dress."
Alix ran to her dressing-case, threw its combs, brushes, etc., pell-mellinto the bureau, opened a lower part of the case and took out four or fivejewel-boxes that glided into her pockets, and two lockets that she hidcarefully in her corsage. Joseph always kept their little fortune in aleathern belt beneath his shirt. He put on his vest and over it a sort ofgreat-coat, slung his gun by its shoulder-belt, secured his pistols, andthen taking from one of his trunks a large woolen cloak he wrapped Alix init, and lifted her like a child of eight, while she crossed her littlearms about his neck and rested her head on his bosom. Then he followed usinto Mario's room, where his two associates were waiting. At another timewe might have laughed at Maggie, but not now. She had slipped into herbelt two horse-pistols. In one hand she held in leash her bull-dog Tom,and in the other a short carbine, her own property.
FOOTNOTES:[13] That is, "Lake full of snags."--TRANSLATOR.[14] The Indian village having the Mississippi probably but a few miles inits rear.--TRANSLATOR.