The daily critic., 1890-11-24
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"Na,s u. " replied Iiiah, cauIiuufnr
/ t1 vlirgle Lis small 5usky body about
iu fle water. and feeling with his toes
/ for tle ground 8s De swung by the iips
/ Of bis fingers from The gallery. But
/ Vi hon bis mother suddenly appeared iu
/ tiCdUluav. with p well seasoned bunch
l Of switches iu her hand he criwled.
I clurkiua up ou the wet p.luks, md
stretched himself there like baby aI'i-
gator Boz 70. watm MONDAY suu
I Ihr.a aaFs before. the lpvee over ON
/ the big swollen river had broken, 81i
I 1lc waters r.m Tie crtyasse were swirl
ing about STUNT tiujv Washington b
cabin. ard flushing away, yellow ami
iuamiHC Boz au angry current that was
cutting % huge rhauuel for itself across
tae very heart rt the country From
ihe biuh gallery 30 i0ukDllikea p vast sen,
spreading rs far as the eve could rsgcn
tn The south and west. and gaining hour
10y hour upon ibe line OF forest trees far
away under The eastern horizon Buck
Ci The cabin The ground rose q little, iu
trD corner OF The struggling turnip patch
lit of green even showed itself when
Die, le rirpled the waves
The FIRST swift onslaught OF the dn1l
h1d carried away nearly all The cabins
and out houses scattered about the
ISOLATED negro settlement of B ithUl
ChuCh those that remained threatened
every moment TO t0ppe over into the
widening stream. on whose surface
ii0a'od the furluru mass uf wrcckagc-
bcsms. shingles d1ors. window shut
itrs odds and ends Of household goods
bales of hay. chicken Coops. tree
stumps, animals living and dead-that
told is own piiful story of lestruc-
tion. The inhabitants had been re.
moved 10 a place of safety by the re
lief boats that passed and repassed dis
uibuiinr provisions and caring for the
needy and homeless.
But Aunt Cindy had stoutly refused to
abandon her cabin. DE onderpiunin'
81 dish yer cabin, she declared, "ain'
lax de onderpinnin' o. dem yander
trifiin' no count cabins Gaze Sol
Wash 'n'ton, my ole man, is put no dish
yer cabin WI his own hans befo' he
was tuk'n ter glory. an ] bH0vs hits
Fwiue ter STAN
The queer ramsbackle little structure
which Uncle Sol Washington had put
up with his own hands had one room
ard a front gallery. and I'm ordinary
times its peaked and lop. sided roof
amply sheltered Aunt Cindv her four
well grown girls-Polly. Dizzy. Sal and
Niny-aud her one II year.old boy,
Liiah. Just now, however Il must be
confessed the cabin was somewhat
crowded. At the first note Of warning,
Pomp. the old white mule, which "a.
sisted IN the making Of Aunt Cindy's
modest crap had been guided up the
riCkeiy steps aud qu1riered on one end
Of the gallery, where he munchai
cuutsn'tdly al day long from the pile
~ r'ru and fodder supplied by the rnv
eri mtut rc irf boat a new born calf.
which bad driftUd against the back
door; and lad been llfttd Ia and
warm, q 10 life on the Vide hCgrIhst1ne,
stood beside him. OF trottcd Ikea kitten
IN ard ont % the open doorway A
big ilDp cared hound dog had buiTctol
lls way, swimming. 20 the edge Of the
gallery, and looked up with red, appeal
ing eyes, he now lay IN a corner of the
fireplace. sleek, brown and dry, aud
shifted hungrily at the frying pan A
turkey. strutted about the tloOr
A litter Of pigs gruuted In a corner.
II clar' ter goodness, said Aunt
Cindy the second morning, as she fishei
out coop of half.drowned chickens,
which came humping against the wall.
hits edzacktlY lax DC Zark dat old
Noah done builded al de comman' o de
Lawd"
A few hours later 'possum creptiu,
and made his way stealthily 70 one OF
the blackened raflers under the roof
whence he looked gravely down; aud
lame blaCkbird hoped upon the snowy
pillow counteTpane OF Aunt Cindy's big
four post bed and nestled among the
pillows.
"Hits er Zark repeated Aunt
Cildy cheeTfully, Fan kHOss dat de
OndeTpinnin' is gWlne 10 stan An
wi Gov'ment bacon an de catfish dat
me an de chillen Kin ketch fIum dc
gall'ry we ain gwine ter starye.
Liiah summed himself IN his wet
clothes, now staring dTeamily at the soft
blue March sky overhead, now watching
Polly, who was fishing from the other
end Of the gallery close 10 old POmp's
inOiiensive heels Suddenly he scTam-
bled 10 his feet and gazed intently out
over the yellow sea. The next moment
he plunged headlong into the water,
where for a second he disappeared, then
rose splultering and blowing.
Polly threw down her pole at the
HAAasA anu TAU AhA ~ aAAs NA AalIGH
she gasped, come Out'n dat water dis
minute Does you Wanter dr0UH yO' se'f2
Nanny gWine % " ar you ter eT-"
She stopped abruptly her mouth re-
mained wide open, and her eyes dilated.
Lijah was pushing his way slowly
against the incoming waves The
water, at first a little below his shout
deTs, presently Tapped against his
chin iNmnE4 hn aHfRnaI
aud then only the top Of lis
w0oIly head was visible IN the foam.
Finally he struck out, and swan with
unsteady, childish strokes toward The
object upon which his eyes were liked
II was a Whitish mass, which hOated
slowly, as If driven by light wind,
toward the rapid current Of the deeper
channel a few yards away. As Lijah
approached II caught 10 the scraggy
tops of some altheas that marked the
boundary Of the cabin dO0r-yard there
II stopped a moment, swaying from side
10 side. as If about 10 sink then. caught
10 an eddy II turned suddenly and shot
forward Liiah made a desperate squirt
and laid hold uf 10, drawing IL cautiously
90 him, his lean brown arm glistened
iu The sun as be stretched il out He
turned Bith difficulty and labOrad back
pushing the drift before him AS be
came up Polly who had been too ter
Iined % utter a word, seized him and
drew him upon the galley where he
dropped exhausted and pantlng Then
she looked down at the jetsam be had
lowed iu, and gave q screech which
brought Aunt Cindy, the girls, and the
dog flying out
10 Was indeed a strange little craft
which lay alongside The ZaTk-a tiuy
cradle mattress, water soaked and