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Smith, Jewell Ellen, 1915-1998

"Great Jehoshaphat and Gully Dirt"


I managed to get out of sight of Mister Ward, but I could
hear him stomping and floundering his way through the cane.
"Hell! She must've circled back toward the river.
Bandershanks! Where're you at, young'un? Bandershanks? That
candy's just across the river!"
I wouldn't answer. I kept on crawling-into mud! But I didn't
care. I sloshed on through till I was back on dry dirt and could
get up and run again.
Suddenly I found myself right at the edge of the biggest
creek I'd ever seen! It wasn't Rocky Head; I knew that. It was
too deep and the banks were too steep to be Rocky Head. And the
water was muddy red, even to the scum and bubbles swirling around
at the edges.
I saw a foot log a few feet down the bank. Maybe I could try
to cross over on it. No. I couldn't! I didn't like foot
logs-especially not that one. It was sagging down in the middle,
and it wasn't very wide. The log was plain rotten-looking in
places where the bark was peeling off.
Before I could decide what to do, I heard Mister Ward again.


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