A Texas Missionary.                             2f
CHAPTER IV.
Father Verdet, O. M. I. The ill-fated Nauti-
lus. Nine Days Floating on a Door.
Father Keralum, O. M.I. Making a Coff-
in. Lost in the Chapparals. Dies of
Hunger. Remains found after ten years.
My Fourth Tour. A Baptist Minister.
Sour milk.    How I Paid my Fare.
Au revoir luxuriant prairies, trees festooned with
moss, landscapes varied with fields of bright green
maize and with groves of dark green pines! Au revoir!
From the depths of my cell I shall recall the memory of
the dead ! the tragic deaths of Rev. Fathers C. Verdet,
P. Keralum, and P. De Lustrac, O. M. I. In the year
1856, the church at Brownsville on the Rio Grande was
just emerging from its foundation. Rev. Father Ver-
det, Superior of the Oblate Fathers in Texas, in order
to hasten the construction of the much needed church,
decided to undertake a voyage to draw some funds due
the mission and to purchase the lumber required for
continuing the work. He embarked on the ill-fated
Nautilus at Brazos Santiago and arrived at Galveston on
the 9th of August at 10 a. m. At that time I was sta-
tioned at the college. How well I remember the down-
cast, gloomy countenance of Father Verdet as he en-
tered my room. He had suffered from the start for two
days, the steamer being tossed to and fro like a feather;
the Gulf being unusually rough and the weather being
stormy. It was with extreme difficulty that the boat en-
tered the harbor at Galveston. We endeavored to induce
Rev. Father Verdet to postpone his voyage and wait un-
til the following Sunday, when it was announced that a
steamer would start for New Orleans. "No," said he,
"I cannot wait, I must go now."    I accompanied him to