Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1875-12-31

the instinct of his half-witted companies
or indolently concluded tba. nothing wron
could happen, he was sadly to blame 70
charging himself so little with the impor
tant duty that was before him.
Not word was said by either watche
and only the deep roar of the furnace wa
heard through the vast foundry.
George finished his supper; and saunter
ed into one of the tool shops to find hi
pipe. inventor sat alone before his grea
blast. The one rational faculty of his fee
BILE mind enabled him to comprehend wha
it meant, and even something of the mag
nitude of the enterprise that was rlpenins
! inside those burning walls. He knew tha
the furnace was full Of valuable metal, anC
that close beside him buried out of sight il
the deep sard, was the huge mould, sc
! soon to be filled with the precious cast. He
knew and could see that all the channels
for the flow Of the fiery liquid were ready,
and that near the mouth of the furnace
stood the long iron rod that was to be used
when the moment came to let on the mol
ten stream.
Al! this his limited thoughts took in By
habit. Dimly conscious that something
great was soon to be done, he sat with his
eyes on the furnace, absorbed and intent.
Suddenly something startled him. There
was slight noise, and a burning crack ap-
peared near the top Of the furnace. Then
another crack, and o scorching brick fell
out and rolled to the ground at his feet
The lad opened his mouth to shrek, but
80 terrified was he that the sounds stuck
in his throat, as if he had been in fit Of
nightmare.
\ thin red stream followed the fallen
brick and trickled down the furnace side
like running lava. Then came another
alarming noise, and thin gap halfway
down the masonry let out more OF the his
sing metal.
Where was George? Was the uufaith-
full fellow still hu nting for his pipe? The
furnace was bursting with only poor,
half idiot lad to guard it !
What could he do? He did what n
lad in his right mind would not have dar
ed to do. Rushing to the mouth of the
furnace and seized the long iron rod that
stood near, and tapped the vent. One
desperate thrust with the sharp point up
.ba tor,;Llo ,uppaIl 4, Eou- crioE or1-iuC
strokes. Stand back, now! The confn-
ing clay fell away, and the yellow white
flood spurted out with resistless force. 1t
leaped into the claytined trOughs, and hiss
ed its way, flaming, down 10 the mouth Of
the bell-mould.
The fool had dcne deed worthy OF n
general on field of battle.
Was it too late? Every moment new
assures opened into the doomed furnace.
Some Of the upper stones toppled over
Still the metal poured out into the mould.
But the waste was great from the Gaping
flaws. The pressure was relieved by the
opened vent, but the leaks multiplied con-
tinually. It was art running q race with
ruin.
Poor 'Mopus' stood pOwerless before the
coming catastrophe. His knees knocked
together, and his head swan. A great
heap Of red hot bricks and rubbish fell at
his feet. He had barely thought to get out
of the way and save his life. lie heard
wild shout Of human voices in the distance
then an awful roar behind him, and he saw
and felt himself pursued by surges of aeelh-
ing fire. Sharp blistering pains pierced his
flesh at a hundred points. The rest was
all horrible, unintelligibe dream. II
was as if he had suddenly sunk into the
earth and been swallowed up forever.
BY seven o'clock comparative quiet reign
cd again on the scene of disaster. Ruins
lay everywhere. The engines had Quench-
cd the flames that had caught the building
and the men, blackened with smoke, stood
in silent groups about the remains OF the
furnace. 1t had fallen to pieces, and moth
ing was left but heaps of steamiqg rubbish
Poor Inventor who had been found
with the tapping-rod in his hand, lying on
his face in the sand frightfully burned, had
been carried to his home.
Little was said, but the few words spoken,
uttered with no mild emphasis the natural
wrath of the master and the hands against
the man George, whose excuse for himself
only exaggerated the offence.
See what he's done,' said they a few
days later, as they stood IN the half burned
foundry. Five thousand dollars gone to
waste in minute! The best job in TWEEN
ty years spoiled The rascal, 10 go hunt
ing for his pipe, and leave thnt suffering
idiot to watch Is that all he can say
for himself? Out upon such careiessness!
Why the boy didn't know enough to bawl
out when ne must have seen the furnace
tumbling to pieces y
The master, who had more at stake than
the men, of course felt the loss more keenly
than they. He almost wept with mingled
grief and rage. Suddenly something pecu-
liar caught his eye among the debris, and
he cried in a startled voice:
'Halol What's this What's this.
lie snatched up fragment of one OF the
troughs which had led from the furnace to
the mould There were traces of the
stream of bronze still running in it. Then
the possible meaning of the iron found in
the injured boys hand flashed upon him.
Bring me shovel, quick = he shouted.
\ spade was put into his hands, and he
began nervously to hcaye away the hot
mass that lay piled over the bell-mou!d.-
II was Hercuiean task, but he worked
like q giant, aud three or four of his men
took hold and helped him.
Brick bats, ore, Stag and ashes flew in
every direction. Presently the masters
spade penetrated the sand and touched
hard. He stopped down.
Then he leaped up like one half franeic,
and plying his spade with redoubed energy
tore away the remaining sand, disclosing