The Well
In 1938 my family moved back to
Fayetteville from Stakerag. Daddy had just bought a dry
goods store on the Courthouse Square. This was quite an
accomplishment considering he had little or no money, but
he had been able with the help of a couple of friends to
borrow the needed funds.
Mrs. Jenny Farrar rented us three rooms in her house
located just south of the Courthouse Square, directly
across from the Fayetteville Grammar School. Although
living space was small, the location was ideal. I would
start to school the next year and would be able to walk to
school. Daddy could walk to work. This was important since
we didn’t own an automobile.
Mrs. Jenny was an elderly lady about as wide as she was
tall who waddled when she walked. She was very kind to us,
especially to me. When she was not working in her rose
garden, she sat in a rocker next to her radio and listened
to the “soaps.” She had a handy man, Elmer, who milked the
cow, cut stove wood, cut the grass, and took care of all
odd jobs. He was also special to me .
Mr. and Mrs. Cap Travis lived next door. Their daughter,
her husband, and their granddaughter, Shirley, lived with
them. Shirley was my age and we became close friends. We
were like brother and sister.
The back porch to Mrs. Jenny’s house was very high off the
ground. There was a well curb on the back porch with a well
shaft that went from the porch floor to the ground. The
shaft had a door at the ground level that provided an
entrance into the well for periodic cleaning. I was told
never to open the door, never to even touch the latch.
One day as Shirley and I were playing in my backyard,
Shirley’s curiosity prompted her to investigate the
forbidden zone. I told her we were never to open the door
to the well and added the frightening stories that I’d been
told of what could happen if we did. That seemed to only
entice her more. As she reached for the latch, I screamed
at her, but she paid no attention to me. I raced into the
house to tell Mother. Mother ran back with me into the
backyard. Shirley was not there, but the well door was
standing open. Mother looked into the well through the
door. The water level was about ten feet below the ground,
and she could only see a black hole and her reflection in
the water. Mother ran next door and told Shirley’s mother.
Someone was sent to town to ring the bell in the courthouse
clock.
When there was a fire or any kind of emergency, someone
would ring the clock bell very rapidly by pulling a rope
which hung at the south end of the courthouse hall. The
bell could be heard for several miles in all directions.
The local telephone operator was called and given the
information concerning the emergency. Hearing the bell,
people would call the operator to get the details. People
of the community knew this procedure quite well and it
worked very successfully.
In a matter of minutes a crowd had gathered in the
backyard. A man was lowered into the well. I could hear
water splashing and his yelling to the men at the top of
the well.
“ I don’t see a trace of her!” I heard him say.
They then lowered a long wooden pole for him to use in
probing the bottom of the well. The large crowd was quiet.
All you could hear were those working at the well.
“Do you feel anything?” one of the men at the top of the
well shouted.
“Not yet,” echoed the voice of the man in the well.
Shirley’s mother was standing near the well door screaming
and crying to the top of her voice, “My baby, my baby....”
Shirley’s grandmother was supporting her by the arm and
quietly crying. By this time Mr. Cap Travis, Shirley’s
grandfather, had come from the other side of town where he
worked at John M. Jackson’s general store.
After about twenty minutes of probing, the man was pulled
from the well.
“We can’t give up!” Shirley’s mother was shouting.
“M’am,” the young man responded, “I don’t believe she’s in
there.”
A sigh of relief rose from the crowd. However, Shirley’s
mother was not convinced and she begged the young man to go
back down into the well.
During all this time my mother, thinking that Shirley might
have responded to my telling on her by hiding, was looking
everywhere for her. Mother went up to the Travis’ house and
entered the living room where the back of a large sofa
covered a window facing Mrs. Jenny’s backyard. She looked
behind the sofa. There was Shirley with her little elbows
on the window sill watching the crowd. At first she was
startled, but Mother told her not to be afraid that
everything would be all right.
Mother went to the door with Shirley and shouted to the
crowd, “I’ve found her and she’s all right!”
The relieved crowd quickly dispersed. I followed Shirley’s
mother up the rise to the Travis’ house. Shirley’s mother
was fit to be tied. Mr. and Mrs. Travis, Shirley, and
Shirley’s mother gathered on the Travis’ front porch which
was made somewhat private by a large wisteria vine. No one
noticed me, behind one of the empty rockers, as I watched
to see what was going to happen.
Shirley’s mother had cut a switch and was threatening to
switch Shirley. Shirley ran and jumped into Mr. Cap’s lap.
Shirley’s mother followed her and began switching. As she
switched, I noticed Mr. Cap’s hand slowly covering
Shirley’s legs to absorb the bite of the switch. He never
said a word. Shirley cried aloud as though she felt the
full impact of each pass of the switch. It seemed that
Shirley’s mother never realized Mr. Cap’s involvement.
I learned a big lesson from this episode. I realized for
the first time, what Shirley already knew, the value of
grandfathers in times of crisis.