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Show RTVER by the laws of hydrodynamics. Any attempt to contradict these laws is doomed to failure. If the river decides to obey the laws of nature and cut through to the Atchafalaya Basin, all the engineers in the army and all the money in America will not stop it. In some places the levee system is built some miles back of the river bed, but sometimes (as in Osceola) it stands right next to the river bank. The levee looks like a moderately steep hill running up to a flat, even ridge. The land is usually leased to cattlemen who keep it covered up with cows, and this was true of the levee at Osceola. As I came up over the crest of the levee, the broad landscape of flatland Arkansas opened up. The green levee running down to the town was filled with grazing cattle. I admired the pastoral scene, but Thor went nuts. I can't really blame him. He'd spent a long day crouched in the boat and the sight of all those cows proved to be too much for him. Thor lit out after them. I yelled and followed my cow-crazed dog, swearing and angry, but he was gone like a shot, howling in pure canine ecstasy. Some thirty cows, calves, and steers turned and fled, lumbering along with that loping bovine gait that looks so ridiculous but moves so fast. They all ran toward a low corner of the pasture where they turned and stood behind a large black bull. I stopped and waited for the inevitable. As the cows formed up behind the bull, Thor practically ran into him before my dog realized that the thirty large, unhappy animals he had pursued so blithely had now turned to make a stand. He stopped in his tracks and stood barking, but the timbre of his voice changed and his bark lost all conviction. The bull made a tentative advance and Thor decided that discretion was the better part of valor. He slipped his tail between his legs and turned to run back -180- |