Beaufort Chums

Excerpt: "e;The river is coming up at the rate of an inch an hour!"e; announced Mr. Miller, reading from the evening paper. "e;At one o'clock it was eighteen feet, and reports from the north indicate the highest water ever known on the Upper Mississippi."e; "e;Hurrah!"e; cheered Ned, who was sitting on the porch steps, waiting for supper, and had heard through the open window. "e;Why, Ned!"e; rebuked his mother. "e;Think of all the suffering this means!"e; "e;Well, anyway, the river's booming,"e; ventured Ned, abashed. "e;It's even with the railroad tracks. I was down looking at it after school."e; "e;I'm sorry for the poor people on the flats-the lowlands must be flooded,"e; continued Mrs. Miller. "e;But they tie their houses to trees with ropes, and move into the second stories, and go about on rafts,"e; explained Ned, to whom such a plight was not without fun."e;