sfied until the
board member agreed that in case the flood failed to abate next day, as
predicted, the board should do the extra capping. This settled, a nail
was driven into the upper plank to mark the water's height.

Sure enough, on the following morning the river had dropped away from
the nail, and thereafter it continued to fall.

After watching the decline for several days, the Cajun, very much
puzzled, called on his friend, the local levee board member, to talk the
matter over.

"Say," he demanded, "what kinda man dis United States engineer is,
anyhow? Firs' he tell when de water comes. Den he tell jus' how high she
comes. Den he tell jus' when she's agoin' to fall. What kinda man is
dat, anyhow? Is he been one Voodoo?"

* * * * *

The spirit of the people of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, who
live, in flood time, in the precarious safety afforded by the levees, is
characterized by the same optimistic fatalism that is to be found among
the inhabitants of the slopes of Vesuvius in time of eruption.

One night, a good many years ago, I ascended Vesuvius at such a time,
and I remember well a talk I had with a man who gave me wine and sausage
in his house, far up on the mountain side, at about two o'clock that
morning.

Seventeen streams of lava were already flowing down, and signs of
imminent disaster were at hand.

"Aren't you afraid to stay here with your family?" I asked the man.

"No," he replied. "Three times I have seen it worse than this. I have
lived here always, and"--with a good Italian smile--"it is evident,
signore, that I am still alive."

Less than a week later I read in a newspaper that this man's house,
which was known as Casa Bianca, together with his vineyards and his
precious wine cellars, tunneled into the mountain side, had been
obliterated by a stream of lava.

Precisely as he went about his affairs when destruction threatened, so
do the planters along the Mississippi. But there is this difference:
against Vesuvius no precaution can avail; whereas, in the case of a
Mississippi flood, foresight may save life and property. For instance,
many planters build mounds large enough to accommodate their barns, and
all their live stock. Likewise, when floods are coming, they construct
false floors in their houses, elevating their furniture above high-water
mark, so that, if the whole house is not carried away, they may return
to something less than utte