374 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



of the men left their ranks and scampered towards 

 the wood. Only the group in front of the chandler's 

 store remained grave and steady in the midst of the 

 general excitement. 



From out of the dark cypress forest that stretches 

 southwards from the shore of the Atchafalaya, a fig- 

 ure had emerged which, judging from its dress, be- 

 longed to the Indian race. The savage had crept 

 along the edge of the forest in order to get near the 

 town ; but alarmed perhaps by the crowd, he had 

 not ventured to take the road leading to it, but had 

 struck into a side-path across a cotton field. He 

 was about to climb over the fence, when he was 

 descried by the two idlers already mentioned, who 

 no sooner saw him than, although their heads were 

 tolerably full of whisky, they commenced a rapid 

 pursuit. One of them first took the precaution to 

 place his pint glass in safety behind a hedge, and 

 then followed his companion, a swift - footed son 

 of the west, who already had the Indian in his 

 clutches. The redskin was so exhausted that he 

 would evidently not have been able to proceed much 

 further. The staggering and unsteady state of his 

 captor, however, did not escape him, and he gave 

 him a sudden push, which stretched him at full 

 length in the mud. 



" Stop ! " shouted the backwoodsman, no way dis- 

 concerted by his fall ; " stop ! or I will so maul your 

 ugly face that you shan't be able to eat for a week." 



