The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-11-12
NUMBER 42.

the remaining sand, disclosing what looked
like great metallic ring.
''Men," he cried ont, lifting his flushed
face, ''the bell is cast ~
"Who did thisS'' asked every excited
voice, as soon as the cheering died away
''Come with me, two or three Of You p
cried the master. s'I think l know who
did it. It's miracle p'
They hurried away to the home of The
half witted boy. The attendant met them
with her finger on her lips.
"The poor lad is in brain fever" she
said.
''Does he say anything in his delirium 2''
whispered the master
go, yes, he raves all the time about the
big bell mould. Il hope it will fill hope
it will fill,' he says
The men exchanged glances. 1t was in
I deed true. The idiot had cast the great
bell of st. Johns. Just then the pbysi-
clan came ont. "Perhaps he will recover
his reason by this shock and Sickness
he said. ''Such things have happened
''Do you think so? Pray Heaven he
may y soiennly calculated the master and
his men; and they turned away, deeply
moved.
Two months later the great bell hung
from huge derrick in the lathe-wsp, Of
the factory, and beneath it stood q keavy
truck upon which it was about to be
lowered. A silence fell upon the group of
workmen as the pale face and feeble form
Of Inventor" appeared, borne in on a
Small soft reclining chair. He had recov-
cred bis reason, and was fast getting back
his strength: His large gray eyes instantly
fastened themselves ON the bell, that splen-
did masterpiece, whose making meant so
much to him. They had told him the
whole story of the casting, and the disas-
ter in the foundry, but 1t all sounded like
a wild romance to him.
81 remember nothing that happened"
said, he, shaking his head with a smile.
''It's all new to me, all new and strange
so strange ~
'Yes,'' said the master, devoutly, sft
was Gods hand"
Every eye was turned upon the invalid.
Some of the men felt almost afraid, it was
SO much like resurrection to have him
there among them, the boy they had known
so long unidentified, now a young man
keen and Intelligent, as if changed into
another being.
81 should like to strike the bell once,''
said lie: Two men lifted him up and put
d small hammer in his hand.
He struck one gentle blow. A deep,
sweet, mournful tone, solemn as the sounds
of distant waterfalls, rolled from the great
bell and echoed through the foundry.
Tears filed the eyes of the rough men as
they heard it.
'Ah,'' said the master; t'theres a halle
lujah in that. and it may well begin here.
Long may this bell praise God He saved
it in the ruins of the furnace by one wise
thought in the ruins of human brain.
Our furnace is rebuilt and behold, this
dear boy has his reason again The bell
and the boy shall glorify God together -
"Amen ~ murmered all tie listeners.
Then the great bell was lowered, and as
the truck rolled away with its melodious
burden, the boy was lifted and carried af-
ter it and both went out into the sunny
day together, the rough men standing in
the doorways, waving their hands.
Little 'Inventor'' afterward well proved
his claim to the title SO lightly given him
in his unfortunate boyhood. His name is
row read on many bell whose matchless
richness of tone his genius and skill in
metals alone created.