CHAPTER II. 



THE CAMP FIRE. 



1 Under the shore his boat was tied, 



And all her listless crew 

 Watched the grey alligator slide 

 Into the still bayou." 



Longfellow. 



" Turkey -buzzard ?" sarcastically cried my friend and hunting 

 comrade, Poke, as, returning to camp, I laid my game down, and 

 seated myself by the blanket that was serving for a table, and 

 around which Poke, the hunter Mike, and the two negro boys were 

 busy at their breakfast. 



" Spring turkey ? " inquired Mike, in. delicate allusion to the 

 age of my bird. 



It was generally the habit of the party to quiz each other at 

 every success, and even mishaps were treated as sources of amuse- 

 ment. 



" Da is har nuff to pizen all Floridy," said Scipio Africanus, 

 raising the long tassel of beard hanging at the turkey's breast. 



" Pooh ! " said Poke, " I don't believe in that nonsense ; it 

 wouldn't kill a cat." 



" Jis you try him, da 's all ; ya cut em up fine, and put um in 

 de grog or de bread, and you 's done for. Din't ole Ma'm Lize, 

 on de Robinson place, take off Maussa Robinson? She be real 

 nigger witch ! Ole man, he took sick, and all ee doctors in 

 Swanna couldn't cure him all winter; spring cum, he die ob 

 turkey beard. Dat 's Gospel ! " 



" You nigga mussen come cooking 'fore our fire, or we be 

 habin' turkey beard too," retorts Csesar, as with his black mus- 

 cular arms, bare to the shoulder, he elbowed his darky brother 

 aside to put a dish of meat before the party. 



