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Other
than Mrs. Brown's story, there are quite a few others I can relate
to you regarding 'Mary.' Another has to do with our family drilling
a deep well when we needed extra water on our 264 acre farm. I'll
digress for a moment to tell you how we decided on the spot to dig.
My Mother cut a forked branch off a peach tree and used it to determine
the spot to dig. As we watched her, the point of the forked twig would
bend up and down - seemingly by itself - to the point of being pretty
ragged by the time she finished - it went up and down about 400 times.
(Excuse my digression.) Now to the well digging.
The well digging rig was about 39 feet tall with a huge plunger. I
was just a kid but was allowed to help out a bit. When we got to 425
feet we hit water. The digger hooked up a pump and tried to pump the
water all out. He was never able to, so we knew we had a good well.
The water was mineral-rich and did not taste very good, but was fine
for the livestock.
The next time my Dad visited Mary, being very proud of our well, he
mentioned it to Mary. Mary scribbled a bit on her pad and told Dad
that the well would go dry one day. I thought my Dad was going to
fall out. A few seconds later she added "Not to worry, after 3 days
the water would come back and never go dry afterwards."
About a year or so later, when we turned on the water one day, nothing
but air came out. Dad was dismayed. We went out to the pump house,
took off the cover and dropped a small piece of gravel into the well.
We could hear it hit with a clear peck. The well was dry. We went
ahead with our daily chores because it was a busy time of the year.
Later that day my Dad contacted the well digger, who came over and
did the same thing we had done with the gravel. He then told Dad that
he would have to dig deeper. My Dad said OK, and the second day the
digging rig was brought in and set up. Being too late to start digging
that day, they left, saying they would start next morning. That next
morning at the breakfast table, conversation came up about the well
diggers arrival. My Mother, speaking to my father, recalled: "Mary
told you this would happen and that in 3 days the water would come
back in and never go dry again." We all jumped up from the table,
ran out to the well, took off the cover, and dropped in another piece
of gravel. We were delighted to hear the clear sound of the gravel
hitting water. A bit later the well diggers arrived, performed the
same test with a piece of gravel, and tried to pump the well dry.
Since they could never do it, they packed up their rig and went home.
The well never went dry again.
(If you are not too bored yet):
Story Three: Mary
and the Typhoon › next page |
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