of stream and shore, preying on
the solitary traveller who rode through the pines on the way between
Natchez and the North, and more frequently surprising the unwary
farmer or trader, transporting goods to market by water. A number of
flatboats laden with the plunder of the freebooters lay moored close
to the north shore, under the shelter of the overhanging bushes, at
the distance of a mile or two up this narrow but deep creek. Farther
up the bayou, and a few rods from it, in an obscure hollow and almost
hidden by cypress trees, from which depended curtains and streamers of
gray Spanish moss, stood a log building, the rendezvous of the
outlaws. The structure was low and long, consisting of three huts so
joined as to look like one.

If a wandering stranger chanced upon this out-of-the-way and
forbidding lodge, he might read, painted on a board over the entrance
of the cabin, the words, "Cacosotte's Tavern." Within the dingy front
cell or bar-room of the prison-like shanty, one evening in the early
part of September, five or six persons had assembled. They were rough
characters, engaged in drinking and coarse talk. One of the company
was a negro. The only woman there was a big-bosomed, brown-visaged,
black-eyed, savage looking creature not destitute of wild charm. If
long hair be a glory to woman, then was this dark female covered with
glory--her glossy mane fell far down over her shoulders and back.
Whether she was English, French, Spanish or Indian, or a mixture of
these, neither her looks nor her speech determined. She spoke little,
and took small interest in what others said, yet seemed to regard
herself as the responsible mistress of the premises. She had charge of
the housekeeping, such as it was, and dealt out tobacco and liquor. It
appeared, however, that she was not the sole manager of Cacosotte's
Tavern. Cacosotte himself claimed superior authority, as proprietor.

Cacosotte was a most ill-favored knave, of a purplish yellow
complexion and mumbling speech. His comrades called him "Sott" for
brevity, or "Nine Eyes," not because he had nine eyes, as he had only
one, but because he boasted he had "gouged" nine enemies--that is,
dug out their organs of sight with thumb and fingers.

Two of the select party were Burke Pierce and Abe Sheldrake. The least
conspicuous individual in the room was a sullen, suspicious,
cat-footed man, who kept his slouch hat pulled over his face, and sat
apart, smoking a pipe. He was