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so that had it been pointed out to me as a haunted house, abandoned by its owners, the scene presented there would have been exactly accounted for.

4. It has been a noble place, and could be made so again with little trouble and expense. No house that I have seen in the South is more eloquent of the full possibilities of the aristocratic baronial life of the planter before the war. To look upon it even now is to recall a thousand tales and anecdotes of the elegant life, the hospitality, and the comfort of the old régime. The main house is a great square, low building, with a gallery on three sides, reached by a broad, high flight of steps. A great and beautiful door leads to a wide central hallway, through which one could see, when the house was open, either the blue gulf and distant islands in front, or the great oaks with their funereal drapery of Spanishmoss in the rear.

5. Two other similar but smaller houses stand, like heralds of the old hospitality, a little forward on either side of the mansion. Both are square, red-roofed, onestory miniatures of the manor-house. Each has its roof, reaching out to form a broad porch in front. One is the bachelors' quarters, for guests and relatives of that unhappy persuasion, and the other is Mr. Davis's library and retreat. There everything is as he loved to have it around him when he sat indoors, and out on the beach is the ruin and wreck of a seat under some live-oaks,

where he used to sit and look upon the broad water and reflect upon his extraordinary and most active life. Behind these three buildings is the usual array of outbuildings, such as every Southern mansion collected in its shadow-the kitchen, the servants' quarters, the dairy, and the others.

6. I went into the little library building and saw his books, his pictures, his easy-chair and table, and—behind the main room-his tiny bedroom and anteroom, the bedroom being so small that it could accommodate no larger bed than the mere cot which is shoved against the window.

7. His books would indicate that he was a religious man with a subordinate interest in history. In a closet he kept a remarkable collection of prayer-books, and in an open case were many volumes of novels, which the care-taker of the place called "trash," and accounted for with the explanation that Mr. Davis maintained a sort of circulating library for the use of his ex-Confederate soldier friends. The pictures that still hang upon the walls struck me as a strange collection. One shows some martyrs, dead, in a gladiatorial amphitheater; one is a drowned girl floating beneath a halo in a nightdarkened stream; one is a portrait of our Savior beside several Madonnas; and only one is a military picture.

8. Thither came constant visitors, for it was "the thing to do" in Biloxi-far too much so for the privacy

and comfort of the family, I suspect; but it is recollected that Mr. Davis delighted in showing his library to all who called after twelve o'clock, noon. The main house was seen only by those who had a claim upon his affections. I visited it and found it made up of noble rooms and decorated beautifully with fresco-work. But nearly all the furniture and ornaments and pictures were packed up or covered as if ready for removal.

9. The effect upon my mind was sad and almost tragic, and I hastened from the widespread scene of havoc and of neglect, which even threatens the house itself. I learned enough to know that this does not reflect discredit upon the the litttle family that was bereaved by the Southern leader's death, for the maintenance of the place would entail an expense which, if they were able to meet it, would still be an unwise disposition of their means.

10. On returning to Biloxi, I conjured up a picture of the old man treading the village streets, where every man who passed him lifted his hat, where all who had grievances stopped him to get his ready sympathy, and where those who had served him pressed his hand as they met him.

vistas-views; prospects. nave-main body of a church.

denizens inhabitants.

dank-damp; moist.

havoc ruin.

débris-remains.

régime-system of government;
rule.

miniatures-small copies.
halo-circle of light.

IBERVILLE AND THE INDIANS OF LOUISIANA

(From "Le Bienville")

BY GRACE KING

1. Moving figures of men could be made out on the distant shore, and at night the light of camp fires shone on what appeared to be the end of an island lying close to land. Iberville lost no time in making his investigation, determined to make friends with the Indians, who, as he had understood at Pensacola, entertained a horror of the Spaniards.

2. He took Father Anasthase Douay, a former companion of La Salle, with him in his Biscayen. Bienville and two Canadians followed in canoes. It was a distance of about twenty miles to the land. Disembarking, Iberville and the priest found the fresh trail of the Indians seen from the ships. They pursued it.

3. Bienville and the Canadians paddled along close to the shore in the shallow water; the Biscayen followed in the distance. Night overtook them after ten miles, and they camped where they were.

4. In the early morning, they espied the lurking forms of Indians watching them from afar. Leaving behind at their camp some hatchets, knives, beads and vermilion as a bait, and also as testimonials of his good-will, Iberville and his party pursued the trail they were on.

5. It led them, after a few miles, near enough to the little island for them to distinguish canoes filled with Indians crossing between it and the mainland (Deer Island, named for the game found on it, and Biloxi). Bienville in his canoe, immediately started towards them. The Indians, taking-Iberville writes-the Frenchmen for Spaniards, fled in terror; leaping to the land, running into the forest, abandoning their canoes and all that they contained. The Canadians tried in vain to head them off or arrest them by their friendly cries.

6. They came upon one poor creature unable to escape—an old man lame from a putrefying wound in the leg. The Canadians made signs to him of their friendly intentions. He responded with signs also that he was suffering cold and great pain, and petitioned to be carried ashore. This his captors willingly did, making besides, a fire for him, wrapping him in a coverlet, and building a shelter over him. They also gave him food and tobacco, drew his canoe upon the beach in sight, placed his sacks of corn round him, and withdrew, making him understand that they were going to pass the night at some distance from him.

7. In the meantime, Bienville, with two Canadians, had been sent into the forest in chase of the fugitives. They returned with an old woman found hiding. She was in great terror, says Surgères, thinking that her last hour had come. But her trepidation was allayed by

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