14
THE BATTALION.
Red was soon at home in his new surroundings, and was
noted for being the fattest and dirtiest little boy in town, who
took a special delight in rolling in the dirt when a clean dress
was put on, so that he had to be washed and dressed all over.
This soon became monotonous to the cleanly fisherman’s wife,
so she let him go dirty. When the boy was four years old he
was so used to dirt and 111th that his little red hands and face
were almost black. He seemed to think that the harsh
words, kicks, cuffs and beatings given him by both his play
mates and their elders were made especially for him, so he
took them all in good humor—never whimpering or thinking
about them after they were over. Red was never allowed to
go with the larger children when they went down to the small
bayou on the east side of town, to sail their toy boats, but
he had often seen those little skiffs of his cousins’ when they
were brought home, and he was longing for the time to come
when he could have one of his own.
One day Red wandered farther away from home than he
had ever been before by himself, and found that he was on
the beach—a pla .e that he knew nothing of, except that he,
his aunt and her children sometimes walked there on Sunday
afternoons, and that once, a long time back, his uncle had
taken him in the pretty little boat he saw before him to sail
on the bay. He thought, “I’ll just turn this boat loose and
let people see it sail, to show them that I can sail a boat.
But no, once Uncle took me in this boat and we went a long-
way out on the water; so why can’t I get in and go by my
self?” He got in and soon had the rope that fastened the