The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1875-09-15

could happen, he was sadly to blame
for charging himself so little with the
important duty before him.
Not a word was said by either
watcher, and only the deep roar of
the furnace was heard through the
vast foundry.
! George finished his supper, and |
! sauntered into one Of the tool shops to
| find his pipe. Inventor" sat alone
before the great blast. The one ra-
tionsl faculty of his feeble mind en-
abled him to comprehend what it
meant, and even something of the
magnitude of the enterprise that was
ripening inside those burning walls.
He knew tha. the furnace was full of
valuable metal, aud that close beside
him. buried out of sight in the deep
sand, was the huge mold, SO soon to
be filed with the precious cast. He
knew and could see that all the chan
nels 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 molten stream
All this his limited thoughts took
in by habit. Dimly conscious that
something great was soon to be done,
he sat with his eyes or the furnace,
absorbed and intent.
Suddenly something startled him.
} There was a slight noise, and a burn
ing crack appeared near the top of the
furnace. Then another crack, aud a
, scorchng brick fell out and rolled to
, the ground at his feet
, The lad opened his mouth to shrek,
but so terrified was he that the sounds
stuck in his throat, as if he had been
, in fit of nightmare.
A thin red stream followed the fall
t ell brick. and trickleJ down the fur
E mace side like running lava. Then
: came anothSr alarming noise, and a
thin gap halfway down the masonry
> let out more of the Kissing metal.
e Where was George? Was the un-
0 faithful fellow stiIl hunting for his
pipe? The furnace was bursting, with
q only a poor, half idiot lad to guard it.
What could he do? He did what
n perhaps lad in his right mind would
3 not have dared to do Rushing to the
: mouth of the furnace, he seized the
q long iron rod that stood near, and tap
q ped the vent. One desperate thrust
h with the sharp point up the terrible
+ funnel-a few quick, prying strokes
# Stand back, now! The con6ning clay
v fell away, and the yellow-white flood
. spurted out with resstless force. II
i leaped into the clay-lned troughs, and
hissed its way, flaming, down to the
mouth of the bell.mold
v The "fool" had done deed worthy
# of general on the field Of battle.
e Was it too lare2 Every moment
new assures opened in the doomed fur
v mace. Some of the upper stones top
pied over. Still the metal poured ou
r. into the mold But the waste wa
great from those gaping flaws. Tht
v pressure was relieved by the opened
"a vent, but the leaks multiplied contin
10 ually. 1t was art running race will
ruin.
!" Poor "Mopus" stood powerless be
10 fore the coming catastrophe Hi
al knees knocked together, and his hea'
Ie swan. A great heap Of red d-hot brick
y, and rubbish fell at his feet. He has
n barely thought to get out of the wa.
c. and save his life. He heard a will
&c shout of human voices in the distance
then an awful roar behind him, an,
M he saw and felt himself pursued b.
vs. surges of seething fire. Sharp, bills
,e tering pains pierced his flesh at hun
r. dred points. The rest was all a hor
rible, uniutelligible dream. 1t was a
m if he had suddenly sunk into the cart
as and been swallowed up forever.
tn By seven o'clock comparative quie
VS. reigned again on the scene of disaster
IS, Ruins lay everywhere. The engine
,h had quenched the flames that ha
f. caught the building, and the mer
IN blackened with smoke, stood in silen
d, groups about the remains of the ful
m mace. 1t had fallen to pieces, an
ly nothing was left but heaps of steamin
d. rubbish.
ry Poor Inventor" who had bee
d, found with the tapping-rod in h
h, hand, lying on his face in the sane
ng frightfully burned, had been carrie
hg to his home.
he Little was said, but the few word
nd spoken, uttered with no mild emphG
sis the natural wrath of the masts
FL. and the hands against the man Georg
tie whose excuses for himself only exal
cit gerated his ofiense.
gil "See what he's DONE" said they
"a few days later, as they stood in IL
half-burned foundry. "Five thousan
lip dollars gone to waste in minute III
n1 hest ioh in twenty wears smiled III