The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1918-05-09
MOONSHINE COLUMN

ley.
was going to be conveyed by II John
whose surname is Henry.
T. was y colicky looking old John Hen
ry. but you know those things are not
much on looks, but have the reputation
Of not only taking you where you want
to 90 but Of bringing you back also.
And, anyway, you cant always tell
how much anything is worth by the
way it looks. | remember that my ia
thcr oncc owned the ugliest frizzlcd
chicken | ever saw, but she was the
best laying hen in the yard.
But speaking Of that trip. the night
vas dark, the road was muddy. the rain
was falling and the wind was blowing
as the driver and | started out.
This John Henry was evidently Il
''trlsty. +" for he had on no chains and
after getting out IL little ways we be-
gan to feel ourselves a%-slipping and a
sliding. We hadn't gone far when we
discovered that old J. II. was suffering
from some nervous trouble like general
debility and in a little while his lights
went out.
We decided to try To make it without
lights and kept on slipping and sliding.
We had gone probably three miles
when all at once nearly jumped out Of
my seat, for Just rs there was a blind
ing flash Of lightning heard a noise
which sounded to me like the Germans
had begun a bo~mbardment Of Pickens.
In a minute we discovered hat it
was not the Germans, but old John
Henry giving a good imitation Of a big
machine gun in action. The driver said
there was something wrong with the
exhaust pipe, and there must have been.
He got out to fix it and he evidently
fixed it, fol when he shot the gas to old
and stopped dead still in the middle Of
the road.
The driver did not know what to DO
lie put his foot on the go-speeder but
John Henry didn't know it.
couldn't help Il bit, for / know about
as much about automobiles as Watson
Bell does about the Bible.
There We were, three miles from
town and not a house in sight. AS we
may have said before. the night was
dark, the road was muddy, the rain was
falling and the wind was blowing. The
driver decided to walk to the nearest
tn1lThnnA md .,,l Goa, -, >-,ols1o
| was down there in the middle Of the
road when it began to rain some more
And. believe me, it was raining. II
was no infant rain but a full-size adult.
Forty days and nights Of that rain woulc
have made old Noah's flood look like {
fish pond.
And there | was, with the lightning
playing hide and seek with some ghosts
in the clouds and the winds whistlint
Nearer My God to Thee thru the
branches of the budding trees. Ever,
mean thing | had ever done flashed thru
my mind az the rain fell harder and the
lightning flashed brighter.
The wind was blowing the rain in on,
side of the thing | was sitting in an
out the other side that is. all l didn'
stop. Then all at once it quit.
decided that | would not get caugh
there again and started up the roa
thru the nice juicy mud hunting for
shelter.
After awhile | came to n house an,
started toward it when a hound dog ra,
out to greet me with his growl.
Now, / always have been afraid o
dogs and snakes, but I've never seer
the "fce" that could have stopped m.
that night.
When I got to the porch l found tina
this was a darby house but it looke'
like the White House to me, and
waited there until l saw a car coming
down the road and went out and fagget
it. 1t proved to be the relief ship witt
a jitney doctor and the owner.
We rode down to where we had lef'
the said late and deceased John Henry
when we discovered that on it's way
down the relief ship had a puncture anc
couldn't make the trip.
1t looked like we had about as much
chance of getting to Easley that night
ms Won Hindenburg has of getting tc
Paris.
But the doctor got busy aud after
bringing old j. II. half back to life we
began our journey again, and with the
aid of q good deal of d~own-gradc we