The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1891-09-11

~" >v<<Fk<u, WIN Sto"sh W yo~oS
timber ana thick underbrush. Now you
may go down there and begin the work
of cieari11 your three acres. For the
present will trust you, aud you can
pay me Of the proceeds of your first
crop. he lSnd is very rich and will
grow about three bales to the acre. II
you gosdowp this summer and commence
clearing Ysur lind you can make nice
little sum selling the wood cut off the
land to thessstesnboats when they come
up the riyer will give you permission
to cut wood where you please, as it will
help clear,taa lind aSs, il you can clear
-.ad Yont Sles haa sthiee, acres, 90 {
shead and do it, and pay mo out OF yotSr
Srst crop. ssThe Okalaloo is not naviga-
BILE at all seasons. but when the winter
rains sEell it, steamboats, come up to
carry of the fall cotton crop. You will
need aaes, . cart and a mule--and you
can bty cheap old mule that will do
for ajsear or two-and few sacks OF
cornheal aud rssbers of bacon. Your
passage down the river will cost you very
littL. Yes, think you can manage to
eetstarted on $50.
Upon the first day of August the boys
fond themselves sitting upon au ancient
stump and eating ash cake as they gazed
at the Okalaloo sullenly flowing past
ther new home. Three days later q
ruds cabin had been built, and the boys
turned to the labor of cutting timber
audclearing land. Their life was un-
even,ful Chopping and hauling timber,
cutting aud burning underbrush, ocou-
ia ALo,x IL xY,p 1sok,,rha1
them, for the nearest house was eight
miles ayayr sssensiile, ,the nearest
town, Was fifteen Day by day their
clearing grew wider, day by day their
woodpile grew higher, until on the 1st
of December they sold 100 cords to the
first steamboat that had come up the
river that season Three hundred and
fifty dollars was the reward Of their
four months hard toll, and they could
ray all that. they owed and even think
of better house and a few sim pie COM
forts. 1t had been raining heavily for
some days, and as the boys turned from
the lauding after the steamboat had dis
appeared tho rain was falling in sheets.
In the outskirts OF Stetsonville, on the
fat land lying along the Okalaloo, stood
piSNey "httC houuS WIN ShSSo oAAhoSs
Six years before a young Massachusetts,
doctor had settled in Stetsonville with
his young wife. Beginning with
almost nothing, aud owing large sum
borrowed to defray the expenses of his
education, DR.. Young gradually built
up good practice, and at the end Of
Ave years hnd paid all his debts and was
the owner of pleasant home. But
when at last he seemed fairly on the road
TO prosperity au epidemic of yellow fever
swept over the State, and he was among
the first to fall. He left his widow moth
ing but the homestead and 5000 with
which to support herself and four-year
old daughter. A year had elapsed since
the Doctors death. Mrs. Young had
endeavored to devise some means of sup
porting herself, but Stetsonville offered
no opportunity. The people were kindly
disposed, yet there was nothing which
they could do for her. The schools
were supplied with teachers, there were
dressmakers aud milliners in plenty, be-
yond this, there was nothing for a
woman to do yStetsonville. Little by
little the slender stock of money in the
bank had grownsmaller, and on the first
anniversary of hen husbands death Mrs.
Young knelt by thS bedside of her sleep
-.:--sstSS zSfr, Ne last dollar had been
spent that day. Without the rain was
falling heavily. 1t had been raining for
several days, and the Okalaloo boiled
with ITS over-charged flood. Rising
above the roar of the rain and river a
hoarse, distant whistle told the town that
the first steamboat of the winter was
comm up the river for a cargo of the
cotton. Worn out with sorrow and lulled
by the pattering rain Mrs. Young fell
asleep. The bell of the steamboat rings
as it is nearing the town. Men with
lanterns come out from the warehouses
along the levee. The steamboat re-
verses its engines and floats slowly to-
ward the wharf. To the men standing
on the shore the black chimueys of the
boat seem to tower unusually high, and
even the hull seems to rise above them.
The furnace doors are opened and a
great bar of red light streams across the
rain n-dimpled water. Now the men see
Why-the steamboat los.Aa-.~- i-igfr uuuvu
them; the river has risen clear to the top
Of the wharf aud is rising above it! The
Mississippi has broken its levees and con-
nected with the headwaters of the Okal-
aloo by the northern passes! A food is
coming. the lower part of town will be
under water in an hour. Quick, warn
the people! Men disperse through the
lower town, awakening the sleeping citi-
zens, the river comes creeping up into
the streets, everybody rushes for the high
land, At last the messengers themselves
must turn from their errand of alarming
the sleepers.
"Has everyone been warned~
Everyone has been warned," is the
reply, and the messengers run for the
high land with the water close to their
heels. They have overlooked one house.
No one has raped on the door of the
white house with the green blinds, the
last house on the street. The river
ereeps up, it laps the doorstep of the
Mntier the DIOR, It climbs the wall, high.
er and higher. The sleeping mother and
child hea5 nothing, they sleep on. There
IS sngIt jar, the house trembles, is