144 THE COUNTRY BOY 



company to refund the money, as we paid 

 them for the special and it was their fault 

 the blizzard struck us " ; and besides it wouldn't 

 be fair, as he says he told them most of us 

 were newspaper men. It was like another 

 blizzard striking me, as I was in the act of 

 asking Vice for a quarter to get something 

 to eat, but $22 put me on Canal Street 

 right, mingling with the sports from every 

 town in the Union. I hadn't gone far when 

 I heard the cluck of a chicken. I turned 

 quickly and saw a nigger with two sacks, one 

 in each hand. I overtook him and asked him 

 if they were game chickens ; he said they were. 

 I then made known to him that I was the 

 greatest game chicken fancier that ever set 

 a hen, and it was my intention to purchase 

 a choice lot before returning to Oregon, which 

 was to be in two or three days. He took me 

 to his home, where I examined several. I 

 asked him his price and it appears he saw me 

 counting my mone}^ as he told me that being 

 I was a visitor to New Orleans, I could have 

 the two roosters for $22. After a sigh, I 

 accepted. I took one under each arm and pro- 

 ceeded to the St. Charles. 



