Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

66 Song for the Children. Come, stand by my knee, little children, Too weary for laughter or song ; The sports of the daylight are over, And evening ; s creeping along; The snow-fields are white in the moonlight The winds of the winter are chill, But under the sheltering roof-tree The fire shineth ruddy and still. You sit by the fire, little children, Your cheeks are ruddy and warm ; But out in the cold of the winter Is many a shivering form. There are mothers that wander for shelter, And babes that are pining for bread ; 0 ! thank the dear Lord, little children, From whose tender hand you are fed. Come look in my eyes, little children, And tell me, through all the long day Have you thought of the Father above us, Who guarded from evil your way? He heareth the cry of the sparrow, And careth for great and for small: In life and in death, little children, His love is the truest of all. Now go to your rest, little children, And over your innocent sleep, Unseen by your vision, the angels Their watch thro’ the darkness shall keep. Then pray that the Shepherd who guideth The lambs that He loved so well, May lead you in life’s rosy morning, Beside the still waters to dwell. •—•— Written for Burke’s Weekly. JACK DOBELL; Or, A Boys Adventures in Texas. A STORY FOR BOYS. CHAPTER 111. OFF TO GOLIAD—ARANSAS PASS-THE PIRATE, LAFITTE BURIED TREASURE COPANO - SCARCITY' OF BREAD—REFUGIO—SEARCH FOR MILK-THE CARANCHUA INDIANS-DROVES OF WILD HORSES-REACII GOLIAD AND COL. FANNIN’S COMMAND. PAY or so after our re turn to Velasco, as men cloned i n the last chapter, lUI the officer in command of JflQr the Invincible was order ed to sail immediately for Copano, on Aransas Bay, where our com f-fci pany was to disembark and march If with all haste for Goliad. It was rumored that a considerable force had already concentrated at that place, under the command of Col. Fannin, des tined for the invasion of the neiHiborinir States of Mexico; and of course we con cluded that our company would form a portion of the expedition. W r e set sail about sundown, an3 a brisk norther springing up, by daylight the next morn ing we were in sight of Aransas Pass, which we shortly entered without diffi culty, and cast anchor in a secure harbor behind the south-west point of Matagorda Island. This harbor used to be, in times gone by, a favorite rendezvous of the piratical vessels of the famous Lafitte. On the island, the embankments around his old camping grounds or fortifications were still plainly visible, and along the BXJRKE’S WEEKLY. beach were many posts still standing, with iron rings affixed to them, for se curing the small boats that plied between the piratical vessels and the shore. The Pass at that time was known only to Lafitte and his followers, and here in se curity they used to repair their vessels, supply them with wood and water —both of which are abundant on the island —and divide among themselves the spoils of their piratical expeditious. On the east ern end of Galveston Island they had a similar place of rendezvous, just where the city of Galveston is now situated, and the remains of their fortifications there were plainly visible not a great while since. A few years ago some workmen, whilst employed in excavating sand near their old fortifications, dug up a consider able amount of Spanish coin, buried there no doubt by some pirate on the eve of his departure upon a marauding expedi tion, from which, in all probability, he never returned. Wo remained at the encampment on the island several days, passing the time very pleasantly in hunting and fishing and gathering oysters, which were abun dant in the bay ; and then, with our goods and chattels, avc took passage in a small schooner for Copano, near the head of the bay, where in a few hours we safely landed and pitched our tents upon the beach. Here we found a company of Rangers that had been in the service more than six months, during all of which time they had. never seen a morsel of bread. They had been subsisting alone on beef and such game as they could kill on the prairies. We gave them a portion of the hard bread we had brought with us, which, although tasteless and worm eaten, they devoured with as keen a rel ish as if it had been the greatest dainty in the world. Notwithstanding they had had no bread for so long a time, they were healthy, fat and sloek - looking which convinces me that man is decided ly a carnivorous animal, and will keep in good condition upon meat alone. From Copano we took up the line of march for Refugio, distant about twenty miles, and situated upon a little stream called Mission River, on the banks of which we pitched our camp, just as the sun was sinking below the horizon. Refugio comprised about two dozen adobe huts, inhabited by a mixed popula tion of Irish and Mexicans, and an old dilapidated stone church or mission, built by the Spaniards the same year that the city of Philadelphia was founded. Re fugio was a few months subsequent to this the scene of a hard-fought battle be tween thirty-five of our men under com mand of Capt. King, and seven hundred and fifty Mexican cavalry. The old church, when 1 last saw it, a year or so ago, where King and his men made their last stand, gave evidence of the severity of the conflict, in its battered walls, and its roof everywhere perforated with grape and canister shot. Noticing a large number of fine-lookino cattle in the vicinity of the place, I con cluded I would go to the village and for age for a little milk, of which I was ex ceedingly fond. So, taking a clean camp kettle in my hand, I proceeded to the nearest house, and inquired of an Irish woman standing at the door, if she had any milk for sale ? “Faith! and I have,” said she, “and that of the very best.” Whereupon she conducted me into a little out-building in which there were several pans full of milk upon a shelf, one of which, after rolling up her sleeve, she deliberately proceeded to skim with a hand that was sadly in want of a little soap and water. When she had comple ted the work after this primitive method of skimming milk, to her satisfaction, she poured it into my camp kettle, at the same time remarking, “ There, my little fellow, there’s a can of milk for you that would do to set be fore the Pope of Room—may Heaven protiet his holiness!” I said nothing, but paid her what she asked for the milk, and returned to camp with it, where it was soon made way with by my hungry messmates. Won dering that I took coffee in preference to such nice new milk, 1 informed them of the skimming process I had witnessed, but men in camp are not usually very squeamish about such trifles, and they continued their attacks upon the contents of the kettle, merely observing that “ what wouldn’t poison would fatten,” and that as they had to eat their “ peck ol dirt” anyhow, the sooner they got through with the job the better. The next morning we continued our route towards Goliad, about thirty miles distant, but as we started late, we only made about twenty miles by sundown, and pitched our tents under some spread ing oaks near the margin of a large pool of fresh w r ater. Here we found encamped a band of the Caranchua tribe of Indians, at that time professedly friendly to the Texans. These Indians were said to bo cannibals—that they invariably devoured all the prisoners they chanced to take in their conflicts with their enemies. They were the largest men I ever saw', scarcely one of them being less than six feet in height, and many of them considerably