Drift on the River

Harold Rozelle spent his childhood roaming the woods and streams near the Coosa River in the Alabama countryside. In 1949, he returned to his boyhood playground and spent a year examining what he felt was the true meaning of life. Many years later, he wrote a novel using the essence of his experiences on the river. It was not until 1984 when he was desperately ill, that his sister, Mary Anne, discovered his manuscript. Her enthusiasm was such that he admitted to her he would like to have it published but had never sent it to a publishing house. Before he died in1985, I promised him that one way or another, I would see that it was published. So here it is, in its beauty of descriptive prose and its strong characterization. PREFACE "I moved them yesterday, all right. I took some shoats over to the ridge and sold them. When I started back, some fellows stopped me and wanted to know would I move Tarbee's stuff for three dollars. 'Depends where to,' I said, and they said at least five miles away. "'Maybe jest move 'em down to the river,' they said. We talked it over a while, and they commenced to drag Tarbee's stuff out of the house and load it in the wagon. Tarbee come out and got in my wagon, but they had to get that boy of his down out of a tree. They give me the three dollars, and I drove off; they said they never wanted to see hide nor hair of Tom Tarbee in them hills again and that both of them ought to be in the asylum. " "What did Tarbee do?" "Well son, as best as I could figure, Tarbee turned in one or two of them bootleggers over there, and they just moved him out. " Mr Stubbs nodded, He has a serious look on his face. 'Yes sir,' he said, 'that will sure move a man.'"