Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1897-07-16

above the howlingof the wind aud the
roar of the oncoming torrent.
The darkness added to the horror
of the situation, as did The cries of the
frightened cattle.
Nearer and nearer came the flood;
they could hear it dashing against the
house and feel it splashilg iiercoly on
their faces.
The maddened waters reached the
bo9' and shook it.
Then the frail craft began to rise
with It's precious freight and to tug at
the rope which held it to liye-oak
tree near the house.
Day came at leagth and revealed
such change as the dwellers in the
ark must have seen when they looked
ont after the waters had been pouring
down for weeks and thu fountains of
the greas deep were broken up.
Where fertile fields had been there
was now a lake dotted with trees
that seemed yielding to the torrent.
The cattle were gone. The quarters
OF the labOrers and the laborers them
selves were gone. The sugar-house
and the dwelling house were the only
two buildings left out OF hundred,
and up to their sides the waves were
risin and about them the fierce wa
ters rOared.
cit looks "a if the world were being
washed away" said Florence.
"And that we were the only living
beings left on it, )" lded jennie.
Mrs. Gordon had thoughtfully placed
n ba'ke. of provisions in the boat, so
that there was no danger of immediate
danger.
"rhere is only one place within so
miles that is not under water" said
Mr. Gordon in reply to his wife's ques-
tion.
"Where is that?" she asked, after
pause.
'j;judg2 Riel's," he replied. "That
p!aatati, II is six feet higher than this,
and the leyees are the best in the
state.
"Misht it not be well," said Mrs.
Gordon, though fully. 'for us to try
and reach them?"
The question seemed to startle Mr..
Gordon, for he looked at his wife for
spme time without speaking. Finally
he said:
81 do not hate Judge RieI, aud
would help him were he in the same
situation, but cannot go to him now
of al times No, we must get the
boat loose, aud, trusting in heaven,
go on with the current"
Mr. Gordon unloosenel the rope,
took the oars, and the boat drifted
slowly away from its moorings till it
was caught by the white waters of the
current, and then it shot away with
speed that was startling.
Like all men raised in this land,
Mr. Gordon was a good boatman, but
for once he found himself in a posi-
ton where his great strength did not
avail and his great skill was useless.
There was no need to pull the oars;
it would have been impossible to drive
against the current, so they ha to go
with il.
There was no tronble so long as the
boat was drifting over the cleared
fields, but this security could not last
long. Beyond the fields were the
woods, through which it would have
been difficult to pass under the most
favorable circumstances, but against
which it now seemed that the boat
must be dashed
Mr.. Gordon realized this, for he
said, as il thinking aloud:
''We must try to get into the bayou;
there, at least, we shall be safe from
the trees"
1t is doubtful if he could have kept
the boat in the course of the bayou
ha | he succeeded in reaching there,
for the currents were rushing through
new channels, aud the bayou had ex-
panded into an angry sea. By care
and the exercise of great strength, Mr..
Gorlon succeeded in passing safely
the first line of timber, but it was
only getting deeper and deeper into
the inextricable talgle of dropping
branches and swinging vines.
They hal not been long in this
maze when one of the oars waSabroken,
and the other became pracai6aGy use
less. BY reaching forward in the bow,
Mr.. Gordon succeeded in keeping the
boat from plunging against the trunks
of trees aud so being dashed to pieces,
but no man could long keep up this
work.
After long hours they reached an
open space, an expansion of the bayou,
where the waters were comparatively
calm, and here Mr.. Gordon succeeded
in making the boa flst to the branch
of tree.
''Let us watt" he said, desperately,
'still succor or the end comes. J."
During the rest of the day they
saw the dead bodies of cattle and the
wreck of once happy homes drifting
past, and now and then caught sight
of boat floating by with the bottom
up.
The never-ceasing rain added to
their discomfort ald kept one of them
bailing oat the water.
They abandoned their first attempt
to keep dry, and all were now as wet
as if they had been plunged into the
seething, yellow food.
Shortly before dark they ate the