"The land up the Yazoo belonged to the State, and the State sold it for
$1.25 per acre. The fellows that got up there first weren't any too
anxious to see new folks coming in and entering land. Used to try all
kinds of schemes to get them out.
"There were two brothers up there named Parker. One of them was a
surveyor--we called him 'Baldy'--and the other was lumbering, getting
timber out of the cypress breaks and rafting it down. Almost all the
timber used from Vicksburg to New Orleans came out of there.
"One time a man came up the Yazoo to take up land and went to stop with
Baldy Parker. When they sat down to dinner Baldy took some flour and
sprinkled it all over his meat.
"'What's that?' asked the stranger.
"'Quinine,' says Baldy. 'Haven't you got any?'
"'No,' says the fellow; 'what would I want it for?'
"'You'll find out if you go out there in the swamps,' Baldy tells him.
'It's full of malaria. We eat quinine on everything.'
"The fellow was quiet through the rest of the meal.
"Pretty soon they got up to go out, and Baldy took up a pair of
stovepipes.
"'What do you do with them pipes?' asks the stranger.
"'Wear 'em, of course,' says Baldy. 'Haven't you got any?'
"'No,' says the fellow. 'What for?'
"'Why,' says Baldy, 'the rattlesnakes out there will bite the legs right
off of you.
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