Evening star., 1918-08-04
By Ellis Parker Butler.

yelled, and VIE both tried to back
her with our board paddles, but IT
was too late. The swift water caught
her on the side and swung her right
went! So I began to cry, and
stopped down and hung onto the tim
ber with both arms. 1t was all :
could think of to do. But Swatty
let on he wasn't scared at all. He
tried to paddle toward the shore:
and stuff floating that he couldn't do :
'Ah. shut UP! Don't be a cry
baby" he yelled at me. This. amt
paddle out to the Tow Head and wen
be all right" ~
The Tow Head is the big island in
the river below the town, but more to
this side of the river than to the
other side. 1t is shaped like horse
shoe, with the two ends down stream.
It looked like a good idea to get to
the Tow Head IL we could. but was
AFRAID to sit up. SO l just stayed the
way was: But Swatty padded like
q good fellow. I guess the current
helped him some. In low water there
are two channels. one ON each side
Of the Tow Head, but when the river
Is on a rampage 1t don't care any
thing about channels-it just goes.
But 1t kind of bends below the town,
huu guess tHdt nelpeO SW1IIy.
He kept yelling at me not to be a
fratd-cat and to paddle. but didn't
dare. So he padded and pretty soon
saw he was going to hit the Tow
Head all right. That made me feel
better and kind OF raised up en- my
I looked was scared worse than
ever. 1t looked as II the Tow Head
was coming upstream like a big
packet at full tilt. 1t didn't look as
II we were floating down to 1t. but
as II it was tearing up stream toward
At Its nose where the water hit 1t
the river reared up in a big yellow
wave, like the bow wave of q ship,
and was cut into foam and spray
where 1t hit the trees. and then rush.
ed away on either side like mad. So
! saw Swatty had made a mistake
in trying to land on the Tow Head.
There wasn't really any Tow Head
to land on. The river was way up
in the branches Of the trees. and
guess the water was ten feet deep
ana am rusns hea q. Gr tr.es sseRs RE-
Il was cra1y. But we didn't have
time to think much about 1t. We
Just had time to be scared and to
sec the old Tow Head come rushing
and foaming at u.s. then 1t sort OF
nabbed us. like q cat 'nabs q mouse.
noises and a big swosh Of tree
branches being slashed by the water.
and then me and Swatty was splashed
all over and the bridge timber banged
into two trees and stuck. Swatty
went of the timber like stone in
niger shooter. but hung on. I've
got a black and blue spot inside my
leg yet. where 1t hit the edge Of the
timber. Right away the water be.
gan to surge over the timber. like
saw couldn't hang on there very
long. 80 I reached up and grabbed
Z branch of one of the trees and
hoisted myself up and got up in the
tree. And there was swatty! He
wasn't in my tree. but he was in the
tree, next below mine.
'Garsh" he said. and that was all he
said right then. So began to CRY.
II weuld. mako anybody cry to be
there. up in q tree. with the whole
Mississippi river rushing along under
him. SO near he could stick his toes
down into 1t. It's an awful thing to
think about. You can sit in tree and
look at creek run under you and
you don't care. but when the Missis.
sippi is on a tear 1t Is different. It's
the biggest and strongest thing in the
world. and there was all Of 1t rushing
Of waving back and forth.
So cried. -.
saw. shut upg Swatty said. what
are you crying about?' - go
Well. guess we were In pretty
bad d1-worse than Ke thought We
were. No boat there ever was could
get at us where we were. No boat
could come at that Tow Head the
way we did and last a minute. because
1t would smash against the trees. And
even II anybody knew where we were
they couldn't get to us. Even II the
strongest men In town tried to row q
boat mp stream from below the Tow
Head they couldn't get to us. because
they. couldn't row among the trees on
1t. So cried.
:. shut up" swatty, yelled at me.
"Ain't,it bad enough without you bell
lefinE7" -
, So there;we, were. When Bony saw
us go out into the river he sat on his
timber with his mouth open, and he
couldn't even holIer-he was SO scared
and then he just padded for shore
and Jumped on Htst ttifnber and ran He
didn't know where he was running
he was just running away from there.
He was scared stfn. When he come to
he was half way home and blubber-
Ing and painting. and then he sat down
on . horse block aad- didn't know
what to do. He thought we were
drowned, sure. SO he thought the best
thing TO DO would be to not say any
thing about It. He was. afraid. First
he thought he would go home and
act as II he had been at school and
lust stayed out playiue- awhile and