Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-07-01

plantation, hired . force Of freed
men 10 get his cost0n in, and then
waited with one faithful old man the
time when be should need them for
Its cultivation,
The spring had been dry and hot
but now, a. these two men were
alone, many miles from any human
being, . powerful rain came on, ex-
tending all the way up the river. All
night and day the rain had poured,
and at dark the river was rising rap
idly.
In the middle Of the night, Jim,
who slept on the floor in the same
room, called out:
"Massa, ives in trouble. Peers
like de water is all over de floor"
Benjamin sprsng out Of bed into
water ankle deep.
What is it, Jim7 Where does all Of
this water come from7"
"Mus be de levy's broke. GOO
help u.s."
"But We can mend it again, Don't
worry. We can get gang Of men
to work and set it all right. 1t will
be light in An hour. Tumble in here
for your location seems to be I'M
tenable."
Cant do dat, massas Tank you
oil dc same. Tank God Iss free, but
lss no gentleman to take privileges
. gentleman like you will glib. Ise
gwine 20 sac on desc yer stools
Soon Jim WAS asleep, sitting on
one stool, with his back against q
wall Unfortunately for him, he was
not an acrobat, at least not . som.
naoulistic one, and he soon fell into
tho water.
Sleeplsss Benjamin LEFT his soaked
servingmsn in full possession ofths
house, and went abroad.
Water, water. to his knees, and
the sweet, gurgling iow Of the
brooks of his native mountains in
his ear, now singing, "ruin, ruin,"
instead of light and gay, light and
gay" as in bis daily memories oil
that home and its dear ones. 4
As the light increased, he could |
more plainly see thu extent Of the
mischief. His strong heart only
sbssed one jot of its courageous
~ he murmured:
Another year from home. irene's
yes will be larger than ever before,
md fathers hair thinner. 1t all viii
:ened during the war;
Then he set about finding the
freak, having been joined by Jim,
rho was now in q state of equilibri.
Inn, as far as soaking was concern
d, having evidently tumbled of his
perch again.
They found the break, and master
md man locked On in silence.
Benjamin was in the habit OF pla-
ing his pocket book Of night IN q
urious place. The state of the coun-
~ was such that it was quite as safe
o have money in some unsuspeet-
d place, a. il a1y Of the usual de.
,osits of valv ables. He had taken
section about eighteen inches long
rom the trunk Of . tree about ten
inches in diameter; sawed Longitude.
ally a third CT its thickness; hol-
owed out in the thicker portion o
avity sufficiently large to contain
! few valuables; replaced with con-
sealed hinges the thinner portion to
erve as q lid, which WAS fastened by
. lock concealed in the wood. This
vas thrown anywhere.
The night before tho crevasse he
,ad put his money and watch into IL
nd thoIght no more OF il.
Now it WAS nowhere to be found.
FOR seven long days they worked in
he water waist deep, much Of the
;me, befo re the breach was mended,
vice they found in the morning the |
previous days work almost washed
way. and when ut last the, succeed
d, Benjamin was taken with afever.
recovering his health, he and his
sithfun servant started down the
liver on Q ran. But the sun Was
lot. dnd Benjamin had but just be-
ono convaiescent. and during
he day he talked 1t int ervals Of the
,rook winding under tho woods
leep Oh ade, efthe delicious brsths
rene had waiting for him, but slept
veil . soon - the sun had set.
The next morning they were near
heir 6estin alton, and he insisted
,pon sitting up, in order to catch
he first possible glimpse Of the
steauer, which, accord
ing to his calculation, would be
waiting the re, but he had missed
some days during his delirium, and
the steamer had dep arted the day
before. With q groan be fell back
and swooned. Jim's efforts at length
revived him. and the old spirit came
as uncnquered ~ ever. "rll 60 home
yet Bring mo my letters and lem
on; then / can get mp to town. I'll
find some way to get feed, money or
not, till 1 An strong enough 90 20
down the rive on o raft"
While Jim is executing the errand,
let as look for . moment at the con.
tens Of the waiting letter, not letters.