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me the canoe today," he said. "You can break it in for

me, Gabriel. Take it out and put it through the paces,

hear?"

"Yes, Daddy." I tried to contain my excitement.

Would Pierre appear with his father? Would he be

back that much sooner? How would I act? Would I

reveal our secret love? Would Mama sense something

even if I did nothing?

Late one morning toward the end of the week,

three big cars appeared and the men from New

Orleans stepped out. My heart skipped a beat. I had

been waiting with a feverish insanity since I had

awoken, but I wasn't disappointed. Pierre was among

them.

Earlier we had had a downpour, but now the

feather-brushed storm clouds were far off on the

horizon and the sun had already dried the leaves and

the grass. Daddy greeted Monsieur Dumas excitedly,

and Monsieur Dumas introduced Daddy to the other

hunters. As they spoke, Pierre remained in the

background, glancing my way from time to time with

a tiny smile on his lips. Because of the hour at which

they arrived, it was decided Mama and I would feed

the men first. They sat at our outside tables and we

brought our shrimp etoufee, duck and oyster gumbo,

Mama's homemade bread, and wine. It was an

exquisite torture for me to serve Pierre without

revealing my true feelings for him. I tried not to look

at him because I felt the eyes of all the men on me. "Your daughter is quite pretty, monsieur,"

Pierre's father remarked to Daddy. He grunted, looked