I don't have the text in front of me either, but as I recall the song is about two children who get lost in the woods and perish, and how sad and upsetting the event is for all concerned. In the verse you quote, and in that verse only, the "negroes" of Preston are accused of neglecting the cries of the children, a charge that, as I recall, Helen Creighton casts doubt on in her note to the song. Anyway, it seems the type of charge that would be born out of pre-existing ill-feeling ("They MUST have heard the kids crying ... ").

More to the point, unless my memory is completely out of whack, the verse in question is something of an aside to the main thrust of the song.

Anyone out there have the text, and any elucidating observations?