Sharp County record., 1878-03-01
THE HIGH WATER.
BY MISS NARY 7. REILEY.

But den Uncle Jawge is ole.
Why, whcn he come to dis country,
All desc piney woods you sees
Was one wayin' tiep OF cane brakes,
Wild "a few pehsimmon trees
Scattered in and out among 'em,
Not gum tree in de State.
Might scauty 'COuns and 'pOsSumS,
Sah, reckon, at dat rate.
Uncle Jawge tole me de story
Oh de big nigh -Watah yeah
When de riyah's cawse got turned so.
Ten youy Efyou wants to heah.
II WAS ai,ah cotton -pickn',
Almost sugah- -plantin time.
Uncle Jawgc lived ueah de rivah,
An he says, about dat time,
You could see de watah nsinp
Risiu', riSin', high an strong
An de hans was kept a-wOrkin'
At de lcyee all night long.
Nightan day dcy worked an worked dab
Day an night dc Watah spread;
In de darkness dey could heah it
Lappm' r0un' de leyee.head,
BAYOU Rouge was OvertlOWin'
oven on de Othah side;
An de Chaialayah River
Was a-spreadiu fab an wide.
On dc wes' bank of de riveh
Was de Mahstah's big white house,
Wid de ni%gah quahteh neah it;
But between was Bayou BOuse.
IL was nothiu' in de summah,
An dried up One-h half de year;
But Just den you couldn't cross ii
'Dhuut you had dug-out neah.
So de Mahstah stayed across it
In dc ovehseah's place,
An dey say he got 50 changed dah
You'd hardly knOWed his face.
But he stayed out ON de leVee,
An de uiggahs worked deh bes',
But dc watah KEEP a-risin',
An deh want no time To- res;
An de TiVah was ies filled wild
Snags, dat come a-rushin' down,
An got druv into de leyce
An went whirlin' roun' an roun'.
An de watah got so swif dah
Seemed rs il, mos any day,
1t would sweep de whole embankmen'
OF de levce clean away.
But de boys KEEP wohkin', wohkin',
Day an night an all night long,
An de watah KEEP a-risin',
CROWN high an CROWN strong.
All de Wes' was full of watah,
Every little branch was high;
All dc cas- was OyertloWin'
From de Rouge an Chafalay.
One day, when dc Mahstah come dab
Dey seed de levee couldn' las;
But he tole dem up the riveh
Dab had broke big creyasse,
An heap o. men was drOwnded.
So" he said "dah's dis ting shore,
Dat Will take de weight o. watah,
AN you needn't wohk no mohr
L n va hnVg
As he walked off to de branch.
Dey had all guy up deh wohkin,
Waitin' fo' de boat to launch.
lie was sittin' in de dug-Ou
On de watah OBJ de Bouse,
An he called to Uncle Jawge to
Come an row him to de house;
An, dey say, he sot dah smilin'
Lookin' crOst, like he could see
Little EuStace at de window
An young Mistes Eulalie.
An at once dAh came sudden
Scum, like thundeh in de aih,
An de watah swep' de levee
Like twas straw dat had be9p dehr., s..-
In thd bay0sIrushe9 de riyeh, (s,A''--' "
Fob IL d4in9SSuu' dI6aySu 'R4ls @as a. \ tafsiEgSR n gSRns'
An dey bofe was mixed in one.
Fob de watah from the riveh
Caught de watah from de BOuse,
Till it seemed like n great ocean
Rollin' down upon the house.
BY de time dey heahd dat thundeh
All de house was swep' away;
'TWa'n't no time to give no OhdehS,
Not q minute faw TO pray.
Dah dCy two web driftin', drittin'
On de riveh big an wide.
Nothin' neah but tiOatin' pieces,
Snags aroun' on every side.
Uncle Jawgc says Mahstah sot dah
White an STILL like he was dead,
Gain wild his eyes wide open
On de watah straight ahead.
| suppose dat he was stunned like
Wid de Swifness OF de whole,
An il seemed as if de watahs
Was a-rOllin' Och his soul.
Ii grew dahk aroun', an still he
Didn't seem to draw no breif,
AMI felt like tloatin' down de
Valley OF de Shade of Def.
Dab he sot IL gain, gain
Straight ahead wild starin' eyes,
Till he seed somethin' near 'em
On de watah fall an rise.
II was MahSt0h EuStaCes crdule,
Dat had got out from de house,
An washed up, and now was tloatin'
Bottom up'ards down de Bouse.
Uncle Jawge says when he seed it
Dat he les throwed back his head
An slipped down ards III de dug out,
SO he guy him up 70 dead.
An it KEEP a GROWN dahkeh,
Afteh while he seed stah,
But it looked so white an awful
An it seemed so still an fan
He was glad de clouds come driftin'
Up de sky and hid de light;
But, he says, dah was an awtu
Feelin' TOun' him all dat night.
Faw de watah seemed to whispeh (
Or to sob like children's cries,
An when il got light little ,s
He could see big, shinin' eyes
On de.watah all aroun' him.. tffp
An de watah flash an spiia,
And den whispeh, whisp1h Y'hfspeh,
Like a little laughin' cntle.
Den he seed de day a-dawnin',
EVcnin' come an lcp him dan
All alone upon de haunted
Watah den he kmowed no NAV,
DcV was picked up by a steamboat
DatneN week: but no one knows
What it was dat killed de Mahstah,
DOctOh said dc shock, he spoSe.
Uncle Jawgc says when de watah
Settled back into its place
Dat il lCi' de ole e-time channel
Faw de new one fuhdCh ives,
An dey called de ole False idyeh;
Ruthc lef ole POinte Coupee;
ECuI1l't lanh tD think Di MAlSral