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had eaten dinner and the others were all sitting around talking wondering where the best place was to go catch a big mess of fish for our supper. It was around three o'clock then. So some body had made coffee and I was lying down in the front room when Volney came bringing me a cup of coffee and I had just taken it when something like a heavy stick of dynamite had gone off. So Willie knew the minute he heard it what is was. It was the bolts that was holding the pontoons to the 4 x 8 timber that had shot out from underneath. So Willie began hollering for everybody to get out as quick as possible as the boat was going down on the opposite of the river which gave us a change to get out on the bank. The baby was in her play pen right inside the front door so when I saw the water coming in the front door, I called Sis to come and get the baby so when she got Sabra she ran to the edge of the boat and tried to jump over the ditch and jumped into 15 foot of water with the baby in arms but as luck would have it or the Lord one Volney was right behind her and grabbed her collar and pushed her up on the bank. This probably wouldn't have happened but Mutt Miller and another boy was racing and every time they'd pass our boat great waves of water would come sloshing through one side of the door and go out the other door, so Willie said that was what loosened the bolts more than they were and they flew out. Thank the good Lord no one was hurt in anyway or drowned. Steve said after he and Buddy got the boat back up straight he saw the funniest thing. All of the knives, forks and spoons had been washed out of the kitchen and had gone clear down to the other end of the gallery and each piece was standing up against the wall just as if someone had stood them that way. When Steve and Buddy got the boat up again they brought all of the bed clothes and curtains to the house and after I got them washed and boiled, starched and ironed, they were as pretty as ever. I gave the curtains to one of the nieces in Moss Point, Edith Baxter, and their just as good as the day they were bought. We had many happy days on that old house boat. Steve brought it from Nezan to the old Pontivant landing here in Pearlington. While it was still tied up at Nezan a terrible thunder storm caused a big loaded barge to run into it and shoved it up on the bank against an enormous big cypress tree and bent the railing double, tore up that side of the gallery. So then is when Steve brought it to Pearlington, then some teenagers tore the cabinets all out, stole all the dishes, cookware and used the main part for a rest room. So then Steve took the rest of it to his house where it still stands. Steve has a freezer and all kinds of junk stored in it. Every time I
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