July 25, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
the secret reverently recited the Lord’s prayer 
over me and I was assured that no snake would 
do me harm. The same ceremony was repeated 
for each member of our party and we were 
supposed to be safe from all danger during this 
expedition, provided we committed no sins. It 
was expected that we would be good while in 
the woods with danger all about us. After we 
returned to the settlement it would be different; 
there all people were under temptation and the 
secret would need to be invoked again when a 
new expedition set out. 
I expected to pay for the initiation, but the 
By P. C. 
H! Unc’ Cauge, Ben says you and him 
went torchin’ for ’gators las’ night. 
Did you have much luck?” 
“Well, Marse Jeems, that all ’pends hocum 
yer looks et heet. Ef dat Ben dun been wuih 
he salt, we dun might er been, but that fool 
niggah am so ’fraid er hants dat ebery taime en 
ole bull ’gator snorted en ah ole cow splash een 
der cut grass, he dun nearly hab er fit. En 
den, w’en I dun shot er big un, en haul heem 
een der flat,* dat niggah mighty nigh jump ovali- 
bord eberytaime dat ’gator hab a spasm. Y aas, 
I dun git heem ashore, down by de burnt cypress 
—en Ise jus’ gwine down ter skeen heem— 
but dat niggah, he dun shine de eye ob er big 
’coon w’en we lan’, an er squawk dun holler, 
er-flyin’ ober, en den he brek en run, en nebber 
stopped till he got ter Aunt Mimi’s cabin, an 
crawl unner de baid. Des laik teh scah de ole 
ooman teh def if it hadn't been feh ole Torm, 
who seed w r ho hit wuz, w’en he bus' froo de 
doah. 
“Ob course, ah couldn’t paddle de flat, en 
shoot, en hook ’gators, too; so ah hatter dun 
quit. Hit war er plum shame, too, feh dar wuz 
er lot out; dun shine sum der bigges’ eye dis 
chile ebber seed. Ah cain’t git no paddler; they 
alls so bad skeered, sence de night ridahs cum 
froo las’ taime. I tells ’em de ridahs ain’t gwine 
bodder any ob dem w’en ’gator huntin’, but dev 
says, ‘Aunt Seeney’s Jim dun gone, sence he 
went down de bayou marsh er-feeshin’ cum two 
weeks.’ Dey don’t seem ter recommember dat 
ole man Sile Harris wuz er-huntin’ heem wid 
er razor en er ole musket, ’cause he wouldn’t 
marrah he girl, Caline. 
“Kin yer cum wid me? Now, Marse Jeems, 
whut yo pa gwine say teh yer, traipsin down 
een de maarsh, wid dis ole niggah? Yer knows 
he dun tar up de yearth. Wat! yer dun ast 
heem teh let yer go dis mornin’ ? En he say 
yer kin? En feh me teh be at de lan'in’, cum 
sundown teh take heem an’ same gemmen foh 
er nite torchin’ down de maarsh? Wat! Yeh 
des er foolin’ de ole niggah. Yeh doan’t mean 
hit, now, does yeh? Yeh does hope teh die en 
cross yeh heart? 
“Eh huh! dis niggah mitey proud teh take 
Marse Hennery en any quality folkses he dun 
fotch. Why, Marse Jeems, lots er times w’en 
young man said no; he did not have the secret 
to sell, it was without price; and now he must 
hurry away to a cornfield which he was plant¬ 
ing about five miles from our camp. When he 
had gone I said: “Lopez, why can’t you give 
the secret as well as anyone else?” He replied: 
“I don’t knotv; the secret is not in me. There 
is something more than just the words, and only 
a few have it.” 
The secret may or may not be effective, but 
one thing is certain: we saw plenty of snakes 
during our explorations, but none came into our 
camp and no one in our party was bitten. 
TUCKER 
Marse Hennery wuz growin’ up, we alls useter 
go torchin’ tergether, en Marse Hennery wuz 
er mighty good han’ with the gun en hook. 
Lordy! but hit ull seem laik ole taimes. My! 
my! 
‘‘Jes’ yer sit dar en de stern. Now be keer- 
ful, feh dis yer flat am cranky. We's gotter 
hurry ef we alls skeens dat ole bull en geet back 
in taime teh fix up feh ternight.” 
So saying, the old man pushed off from the 
bayou bank and began paddling up stream. His 
flat was really a narrow punt, not over two feet 
wide at its greatest beam and about twelve feet 
in length. The bayou was a narrow tortuous 
stream, quite deep, flowing sluggishly between 
low banks, overgrown with rush and cane; in 
fact, except for occasional breaks one could see 
little beyond the banks, and unless the paddler 
was standing he could hardly be seen by anyone 
a short distance from the stream. After several 
moments of devious winding the stream forked. 
Following the narrower arm the flat emerged in 
a lake-like expanse, its surface thickly covered 
with lilypads and water hyacinths, while here 
and there a small island, crowned with a few 
scrubby bushes and saplings, appeared. The lake 
was bordered partly by timber growths, on one 
side; especially a dense grove came down to the 
water’s edge, mostly large cypress. On the other 
shore they were only scattering. One, off by it¬ 
self, looked as though torn by lightning, its 
branches shorn off and its trunk scorched and 
riven. 
Toward this the old negro steered, finding open 
passages through the aquatic growths, where to 
the eye of the untrained it seemed no boat could 
pass. Railbirds sprang momentarily into the air, 
their awkward flight and odd shapes belying the 
speed they made ere plunging into some denser 
growth as a haven of refuge. Purple gallinules, 
bright spots of color, flashed for a moment in 
the sunlight, then slipped into the lush vegeta¬ 
tion, and disappeared. 
Huge blue herons flapped lazily from stump 
or shallow—where they had been standing ap¬ 
parently asleep—to other favorite fishing spots. 
Little green herons—squawks, as old Cauge 
called them—sprang into the air with great 
energy and flapped awkwardly ahead. 
An occasional snowy egret winged its dignified 
course to other haunts, while the dusky shapes 
I 29 
of poules d’eaux scrambled into the herbage with 
noisy alarm cries and hurried wing beats. One 
or two brace of woodducks hurtled from the 
lilypad openings in affright, and an occasional 
half-sunken log would silently settle from view 
beneath the surface at the flat’s near approach, 
only to appear again in its wake, sometimes fol¬ 
lowing and again drifting toward the lilypads. 
“Dat jes’ a mejum ’gator, Marse Jeems, 'bout 
foah or six foot; de big uns doan’t cum een de 
lilypads teh sun. Dey laiks de mud banks en 
ole logs whar dey kin hab er slide. De ole 
sinnahs laik ter clime up and slide down wus 
dan er boy does een wintah on de snow. Dey 
duz shorely laik heet. Yer jes’ orter see dem 
at hit—suah fun. 
“Now, des watch me tole dat 'gator. Bet I 
fotch heem rite longside dis flat eef yeh sit rite 
still.” And he began a barking yelp into his 
hands held half closed over his lips. It sounded 
very much like the bark of curiosity of a half 
grown puppy. Almost instantly the object re¬ 
sembling a floating log seemed to be endowed 
with life. A larger portion of it rose to the 
surface and it moved away from the lilypads, 
zig-zagging back and forth and rapidly approach¬ 
ing the flat until the yellow-brown eyes and open 
nostrils, along with the corrugated back of the 
alligator, could be plainly seen, while the 
mighty sweep of its huge tail could be plainly 
distinguished by the swirl of the water. Paus¬ 
ing, it surveyed the boat and its occupants for 
a moment, then suddenly sank from sight. 
The old man held up a warning hand and con¬ 
tinued his yelp. Without warning the black 
head and part of the back of the huge lizard 
divided the water not four feet away from the 
flat, where for a moment or two he eyed them 
malevolently. Then, as the old man threw his 
arms upward suddenly, with a sound like 
“Woosh” and hurried splash of tail, it disap¬ 
peared, leaving the water boiling in its wake. 
“Golly, dat ole ’gator done gotter good scaih 
dat time. Don’t laik ter let ’em look teh long, 
’case niggah smell good teh ’em es dog er peeg, 
en dey mite tek or notion dey cud tip dis flat 
ober, en dis darky doan’t want no 'gator chaw¬ 
in’ on heem. Yer needn’ er laff, Marse Jeems, 
fer Ise dun seed er ’gator chase er whole passel er 
boys outen de ole ellum swimmin’ hole des las 
summah, en he suah cum mighty nigh catch¬ 
ing ole Ned’s Billy. Ef some of de gang hadn t 
er been er chunkin heem wid sticks en rocks he 
suah woulder cotched heem—yer hear me !” 
Now, a clear expanse of water appeared, due 
to greater depth, and crossing this the old darky 
landed near the big cypress. Both scrambled 
ashore, disturbing a number of buzzards perched 
on the old cypress and on the ground around 
the carcass of a large alligator whose tough hide 
resisted all assaults from their formidable beaks, 
except where the top of his skull was crushed 
and torn by the charge of heavy shot that had 
rendered him a prize to the old hunter s skill. 
“Dem buzzards dun holdin’ er crowner’s ’quest 
ober dis heah ’gator. Curious how dey duz fin¬ 
er dead t’ing laik this heah. See de ole king 
buzzard dar wid his wite head? Alles jest one 
er dem een de bunch. Naixt teh dem ees the 
fellahs wid de big red haids en necks laik cr 
turkey gobbler. En den aims de leetle black¬ 
headed short-legged uns. Dey’s jes' laik der 
preacher en de elders en membahs of de church, 
each sarved ercordin’ teh dar stan’in’. 
Torch itV for ’Gators 
*Flatboat. 
