They bowed their heads and thanked God for His love and protection. They sailed on to the Gulf of Mexico and entered the harbor of New Orleans. It was so low there, they left and sailed up the Mississippi river, then up the Escawtawpa. Here they sailed into a raft of logs; the old boat was wrecked, every person sank in an awful storm, excepting two young slaves of the tribe. They have handed this story down from one tribe to another—from father to son to this day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: chapter headpiece] CHAPTER VI. “And God will make divinely real The highest forms of their ideal.”—Chapin. Ruth was a lovely, tall, dark-eyed, Southern girl. Her family and most intimate friends called her Dolly. She had heavy, light brown, long, curly hair, that hung below her waist in six perfect curls. Doll was very slender and graceful, her mouth a perfect cupid’s bow, her head well poised, and small. Her most charming feature was her large, wonderful, soft brown eyes. Everyone loved those lovely eyes. The soul seemed to express her thoughts, and yearnings through those eyes. Ruth was a lovely Christian and inherited her mother’s sweet, cheerful, sunny disposition. She also was an exquisite violinist, and could paint, sketch and cook. Our heroine is just sweet sixteen. Ruth is sitting by a big window watching an awful southern storm rising from the Gulf of Mexico. She and her young companion, Cathy de Bathe had been dear friends and schoolmates. The girls were now visiting Ruth’s grand parents in Mississippi. It had been raining for days in Escawtawpa,—a small country town on the Escawtawpa river. The Indians and darkies called this strange river haunted; this is a fact too. Every night weird music came from the river bed. The ghostly musicians had chosen the large hollow reeds for their musical instruments. It sounded as if they were practicing the scales on a golden, magical, flute. This weird music would often end at sunrise in a low, sad funeral dirge. People came from all over the world and hired darkies to row them out at night to hear and investigate these strange magical sounds. The music became more weird and much louder about midnight. Ruth and Cathy often wondered if the river was truly haunted.