Part 15 (1/2)
WE GAIN A NEW RECRUIT
There could be no doubt regarding the complete emptiness of the Reverend Ezekiel Cairnes, if the breakfast he devoured from our stock of cold provisions was evidence I have been commonly blessed with robust appetite, yet where that man found space within his ribs to store away all he ate in that hour re, except total inability to address hie, held De Noyan quiet as our liht, and long before the latter heaved a sigh of profound satisfaction the gallant soldier had fallen fast asleep But Madame remained in her place opposite, apparently fascinated by that vivid red crop of hair, now thoroughly dried in the sun, and standing erect above his odd, pear-shaped head I had whispered in her ear what the fellow clai a most devout Catholic, and he the first specimen of his class she had ever met, she studied him with no small amount of curiosity and abhorrence
I can clearly recall the picture, as these two, so widely different, sat facing each other in silence, the golden sunshi+ne checkered over the away to the southward, and De Noyan resting upon his back, with face turned up toward the clear blue sky The woman, with her soft silken hair sent face lighted by eyes of deepest brown, looking, what in truth she was, the aristocratic daughter of a gentleman of France, one whose home had ever been as those of love and courtesy Even there, in the heart of that wilderness, the social training of years re with untasted food, out of respect to this stranger guest And he, with shoulders so abnorarb, ate serenely on, unconscious of her glances, e hands in the operation, his little gi a cone, blazing like a fire whenever a ray of sun chanced to fall across it I noticed he occasionally stole shy glances at her, nor could I wonder, for, in spite of fatigue and exposure, Madaood to look upon
”The Lord God of Hosts be praised; ay! with harps, cyive praise unto His holy na his wide ret over the debris in his front ”Once again hath He abundantly supplied His elect with that which upbuildeth and giveth strength to the flesh Now my bodily requirements have been duly attended to, it behooves me to minister likewise unto the spiritual, and then seek repose Friends, will you not both join with race? It hath been said that I possessto be left alone with Eloise; ”you are welcome to put up petitions in our behalf, but this lady is not of your faith, while as for myself, I have known little about such , however,--if you proposeuse of that bull voice of yours, I advise that you select the farther extremity of the island for the scene of your devotions, lest you arouse the Chevalier”
He cast upon h the bushes without reply, and for several moments we heard the sturdy rise and fall of his earnest supplications, frequently interspersed with hearty groans, as of one in all the agony of deep remorse
”'Tis an odd fish we've hooked out of the streaarms, and e with us”
”I scarcely knohat to make of the man,” Madame admitted candidly
”He is unlike any I have ever ood heart, although his exterior is far froestive of econoht look I always loved to see leaped into her clear eyes
”Have you faith his labor will offset his eating?” she replied, laughing
”Possibly not; yet it is not labor alone I would select hiht before we attain a place of safety For that purpose I would rank this fellow highly Never yet have I met a red-headed man averse to a quarrel Faith! by that token, this one should be worth a company if we ever come to blows”
”But he is a priest, you told me, a preacher of the Protestants”
”Ay! and the better for it I have heard my father say the Puritan breedhas been found to stiffen a battle-line equal to a good text Give this fellow a pike, pit hiainst a boatload of Spanish papists, and, I 'll warrant, he 'll crack more heads than any two of us Besides, he controls a perfect tornado of a voice, fit to frighten the crew of a frigate on a dark night”
She was sitting, her back pressed against a shtly about one knee, with dark eves gazing afar where the broad river danced away into the golden sheen
”Geoffrey Benteen,” she asked soberly, never glancing toward me, ”is it true you do not desire my return to New Orleans?”
”It is true”
”Would you honestly tell ly into mine
”I haveher, determined to speak frankly and abide the result ”All I need add is, to ment it will prove better for you to relanced aside at hi her clear cheek
”You do not like hi from her lips
”That I aeable, so in speech, not as sober of mind as I am accustomed to find men, yet it is not true I dislike him I merely believe that he will do better, be truer to his manhood, with you near him, than with you absent”
”He is French,” she explained gently, ”by nature of birth different from your race Besides, he has led a life filled with the dissipation of the town”