A STAMPEDE IN A CITY.
It was the day before Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and the "Queen City of
the South" was in her gayest attire, being thronged with visitors from
the North and from almost every part of the world.
It was Monday, when Rex, king of the carnival, comes to town and takes
possession of the city.
Early in the forenoon the river front in the vicinity of Canal Street
was thronged with people seeking advantageous positions from which to
witness the king's landing.
It was a jovial, good-natured gathering, such as is never seen in any
other city. Every one seemed to have imbibed the spirit of the occasion,
and there was no friction or unpleasantness. Every one was exceedingly
polite and courteous, and all seemed to feel it a duty to make the
occasion as pleasant for other folks as possible.
The shipping along the river was decorated, and flags flew everywhere.
The sun never shone more brightly and New Orleans never presented more
subtle allurements.
Seated in a private carriage that had stopped at a particularly
favorable spot were Professor Scotch and Frank, who had arrived a few
days before.
"Professor," said Frank, who was almost bursting with pent-up enthusiasm
and youthful energy, "this makes a fellow feel that it is good to be
living. In all the places we have visited, I have seen nothing like
this. I am sorry Hans is no longer with us to enjoy it."
"And you will see nothing like it anywhere in this country but right
here," declared the professor, who was also enthused. "Northern cities
may get up carnivals, but they allow the spirit of commerce to crowd in
and push aside the true spirit of pleasure. In all their pageants and
processions may be seen schemes for advertising this, that or the other;
but here you will see nothing of the kind. In the procession to-day and
the parade to-morrow, you will see no trade advertisements, no schemes
for calling attention to Dr. Somebody-or-other's cure for ingrowing
corns, nothing but the beautiful and the artistic."
Frank laughed.
"It's seldom you speak like this, professor," he said. "You must be in
love with the South."
"I am a Northerner, but I think the South very beautiful, and I admire
the people of the South more than I can tell. I do not know as they are
naturally more gentle and kind-hearted than Northerners, but they are
certainly more courteous and chivalrous, despite their quick tempers and
more passionate dispositions. Northerners are too brusque. If they ask
pardon for rudeness, they do it as if they regretted the breath spent in
uttering the words. It is quite the opposite with Southerners, for they
seem----"
"Hold on, professor," interrupted Frank. "You may tell me all about that
some other time. Hark! hear the whistles on the river? The king must be
coming!"
"Yes, he is coming."
There was a stir among the people, a murmur ran over the great throng.
Then the royal yacht, accompanied by more than a dozen other steamers,
all gayly decorated, was seen approaching.
The great crowd began to cheer, hundreds of whistles shrieked and roared
at the same instant, bands of music were playing, and, as the royal
yacht drew near the levee at the foot of Canal Street, the booming of
cannons added to the mad uproar of joy.
All over the great gathering of gayly dressed people handkerchiefs
fluttered and hats were waved in the air, while laughing, excited faces
were seen everywhere.
The mad excitement filled Frank Merriwell's veins, and he stood erect in
the carriage, waving his hat and cheering with the cheering thousands,
although there was such an uproar at that moment that he could scarcely
hear his own voice.
The king, attired in purple and gold, was seen near the bow of the royal
yacht, surrounded by courtiers and admirers.
To Frank's wonder, a dozen policemen had been able to keep Canal Street
open for the procession from the levee as far as could be seen.
Elsewhere, and on each side of the street, the throng packed thickly,
but they seemed to aid the police in the work of holding the street
clear, so there was no trouble at all. Not once had Frank seen the
pushing and swaying so often seen when great crowds assemble in Northern
cities, and not once had the policemen been compelled to draw a club to
enforce orders.
As the royal yacht drew into the jetty a gathering of city officers and
leading citizens formed to greet and welcome him. These gentlemen were
known as "dukes of the realm," and constituted the royal court. They
were decorated with badges of gold and bogus jewels.
The yacht drew up at the levee, and King Rex, accompanied by his escort,
landed, where he was greeted with proper ceremony by the dukes of the
realm.
Then the king was provided with a handsomely decorated carriage, which
he entered, and a procession was formed. The king's carriage somewhat
resembled a chariot, being drawn by four mettlesome coal-black horses,
all gayly caparisoned with gold and silver trimmings and nodding plumes.
A magnificent band of music headed the procession, and then came a barge
that was piled high with beautiful and fragrant flowers. In this barge
was a girl who seemed to be dressed entirely in flowers, and there was a
crown of flowers on her head. She was masked, but did not seem to be
more than sixteen or seventeen years of age.
She was known as "the Queen of Flowers," and other girls, ladies of the
court, dressed entirely in white, accompanied her.
The king's carriage followed the flower barge, and, directed by the
queen, who was seated on a throne of flowers, the girls scattered
flowers beneath the feet of the horses, now and then laughingly pelting
some one in the throng with them.
As the procession started, the cannons boomed once more, and the steam
whistles shrieked.
And then, in less than a minute, there came a startling interruption.
The cheering of the people on one of the side streets turned to shrieks
of terror and warning, and the crowd was seen to make a mad rush for
almost any place of shelter.
"What's the matter, Frank?" asked Professor Scotch, in alarm.
"Don't know," was the reply, as Frank mounted to the carriage seat, on
which he stood to obtain a view. "Why, it seems that there are wild
cattle in the street, and they're coming this way."
"Good gracious!" gasped the professor. "Drive on, driver--get out of the
way quickly!"
"That's impossible, sir," replied the driver, immediately. "If I drive
on, we are liable to be overturned by the rushing crowd. It is safer to
keep still and remain here."
"Those cattle look like Texas long-horns!" cried Frank.
"So they are, sir," assured the driver. "They have broken out of the
yard in which they were placed this morning. They were brought here on a
steamer."
"Texas long-horns on a stampede in a crowded city!" fluttered Frank.
"That means damage--no end of it."
In truth, nearly half a hundred wild Texan steers, driven to madness by
the shrieking whistles and thundering cannons, had broken out of the
fraily constructed yard, and at least a dozen of them had stampeded
straight toward Canal Street.
Persons crushed against each other and fell over each other in frantic
haste to get out of the way for the cattle to pass. Some were thrown
down and trampled on by the fear-stricken throng. Men shouted hoarsely,
and women shrieked.
Mad with terror, blinded by dust, furious with the joy of sudden
freedom, the Texan steers, heads lowered, horns glistening, eyes glowing
redly and nostrils steaming, charged straight into the crowd.
It was a terrible spectacle.
"For Heaven's sake, is there no way of stopping those creatures?" cried
Frank.
"We'll all be killed!" quavered Professor Scotch.
Into Canal Street rushed the crowd, and the procession was broken up in
a moment. The one thought of everybody seemed to be to get out of the
way of the steers.
The horses on the flower barge became unmanageable, turned short,
snorting with terror, and upset the barge, spilling flowers, girls, and
all into the street. Then, in some way, the animals broke away, leaving
the wrecked barge where it had toppled.
The girls, with one exception, sprang up and fled in every direction.
The one exception was the Queen of Flowers, who lay motionless and
apparently unconscious in the street, with the beautiful flowers piled
on every side of her.
"She is hurt!" cried Frank, who was watching her. "Why doesn't some one
pick her up?"
"They do not see her there amid the flowers," palpitated the professor.
"They do not know she has not fled with the other girls!"
"The cattle--the steers will crush her!" shouted the driver.
"Not if I can save her!" rang out the clear voice of our hero.
Professor Scotch made a clutch at the lad, but too late to catch and
hold him.
Frank leaped from the carriage, clearing the heads of a dozen persons,
struck on his feet in the street, tore his way through the rushing,
excited mob, and reached the side of the unconscious Flower Queen. He
lifted her from the ground, and, at that very instant, a mad steer, with
lowered head and bristling horns, charged blindly at them!