BUBBLES 191 



The doctor shook with laughter as I told of 

 one day when my Henderson friend had driven 

 me with his family some miles to a wonderful 

 quail country and of our return at dusk when he 

 let out his horses to show me their speed and the 

 king bolt broke, the team kept on with the for- 

 ward axle and wheels, while the front end of the 

 wagon box struck the ground, sending my com- 

 panion and myself far forward on the road, piling 

 the rest of the family on our backs, and burying 

 us beneath guns, cartridges, game bags, lunch 

 baskets, and a wagon load of quail. After this 

 President Sloane came out of his shell and kept 

 me entertained until the small hours with his ex- 

 periences, amusing and far otherwise, as a coun- 

 try doctor. 



On the morning of Monday, March 28, 1870, 

 we found that things had happened, for the 

 Catawba was a raging torrent which had over- 

 flowed the banks, flooded large tracts, undermined 

 buildings, and swept away the railroad and other 

 bridges. 



"It will be dangerous crossing that river," said 



