The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-03

t Gfg Nc cen, his fathers a
EI% sometime pioneer,
~ gave him his free
X VI dom, also a colt,
I'M a COW and calf, a
-" SOW and pigs, and
black Billy, a boy within two weeks
Of Johns own age. At New Year,
three months later, he gave up to his
son the plantation and negroes. Cribs,
barns, smokehouse, all were full.
Next New Year John must leave them
as he had found them. All he could
make on the place over and above
that was TO be his, 70 do with ex-
actly As he chose.
John had chosen before there was
a furrow run, a seed IN the ground.
He meant to raise a hat-boat load OF
stuff, and sail with it to New Orleans.
For this, understand, was back in
1920, when steamboats, were hardly
past the stage of experiment, and only
flat boats or keel boats veXed the
silver network of Western waters
flowing down to the big gulf. John
fFAo u man IA oA4NnhAA anu 1AaluAN -
level-headed and steady as a clock.
IF he had been a HOtspur, his father
would have given him the same
chance. The old gentleman believed
in letting his boys find themselves
for themselves.
That was a stirring year on the
plantation. John got up before day
light every morning, and set things
going with a rush. Fate and the sea-
sons favored him. By mid-Jun II was
evident he would have, If not a full
boatload, quite enough surplus to war
rant his father IN advancing him
money wherewith to buy things of
other men. So John made haste to
engage Hedge MCGEE, the best tim
Der worker in the county, and set him
to hewing out the gunnels against the
slack time in the early fall, when he
could spare men from the farm work
TO help with the boat.
After the heWing, a team OF oxen
snaked the gunnels TO the river bank,
where the bodybuilding proper began.
There the gunnels were framed
strongly together with hewn cross
pieces, nearly as stout as themselves.
The next thing was to pin on the
hull planks, calk the seams with clean
tow. and pitch the whole outside, es-
pecially all the joins. Young John
and the hands helped manfully there,
the black men standing cheerfully IN
the saw pit, tugging the whip-saw
back and forth TO furnish planks.
After the pitching, it took all hands
TO get the unwieldly hulk into the
water.
Hedge and Free Joe got several of
their choice crOnies to help IN towing
il 10 the still water just above the
Rifle, three miles lower down. 1t
was not properly towing, rather a
guiding of the inchOa.e flat by lines
made fast to the four canoes. Young
John was in Hedges canoe. Black
Billy. TO his disgust, pulled behind
Free Joe. Billy held himself a quail
ity niger, and as such was entitled to
hold free niggers as even less than
po' white trash.
Ii was twenty feet TO bottom in the
still water, even right off shore.
Therefore, Hedge did not trouble him
self 10 sound II. but warped the flat
III to the bank. tied ii fast, stem and
stern, and set everybody hustling,
bringing him stones, earth and sand
with which to build a rampant all
down one side OF the boat and across
both ends of il. He kept them at II
until the boat oanted sharply; then.
with nice care, tapered his rampant
at either extremity.
When II was shaped 10 suit him
he shouted 10 the canoe men. who
seized oars and lines, and soon had
the fat we'll out. and slightly slant
wise the current. The heavy end was
upstream. Hedge. still balanced upor
the boat bottom. made a breach in the
dam there. As the water bulget
through II, the others threw more
stones from the canoes upon the low
side. What with their weight and
the force of the water boiling bach
from the earthen dam the boat tipped
owe "a neatly as a griddle cake, bu
in the Tipping scoO9ed mp a canoe anC
It's occupants, and sent Hedge dowf
out Of sight.
He came up suffering. but hur
rahed as he saw how CALAMITY tn,
new craft had righted herself. Sh,
was. Of course, full Of water. Hal
Of It ran out through some big auge.
holes purpoSely made in the bottom
They were plugged tight as soon a
Ked0e said "the beat rode AZ her owl
Oveight." Bailing out the rest OF tn,
water was no job at all Alter tn