St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-09-02

, "What's wrong 2" said Mr.. Waiter
son, the proprietor of the great mills
that skirted the river, for it was he.
whats wrong Why are you not at
home? The mills closed two hours
ago"
~ know it, sir; but haven't work
ed this week, sir, for sister Nellie's
sick, an I've been a-nussin' of her up
at our bOardin' house. You see, sir,
since mother died, an our house was
sold, Nellie an me has stopped mt Mis-
Crawford's boardin'-hOuse but my
moneys give out, an Mis- Crawford,
she told me this mOrnin' the boy
stopped abruptly.
''What 7 Come, Jerry, speak out.
You're not afraid of me. Tell me what
she said"
"Well, sir, she did say as how must
pay our board in advance every week
now for, if Nellie was agoin' to be
sick an was agOin' to quit work to
nuss her, she didn't see how she'd get
her money. An our week ran out to-
day, sir, an my money too; all but
twenty cents, an that | spent for
oranges for Nellie. An Mis- Crawford,
she said as how | couldn't eat at her
table, 'thOut paid first. So jest slips
out into the street at meal times, for
fear Nellie'd know | wasn't eatin', an
'twould worry her, she bein' sick. An
that's how | came here, sir"
The boy finished, half frightened at
his own long speech to "the MASTER"
and again pulled at his ragged cap,
while the wild March wind tossed his
yellow hair about his wet face and the
cold rain beat upon his scantily-clad
shoulders.
Mr.. Watterson stood an instant in
deep thought. 1t was hard for him to
realize such poverty as this, and among
his own hands too. Jerry was II ''bOb-
bin boy" in the mills, whom he had
known for a year or more by sight, the
only support of a widowed mother and
a sister-nOw of the sister only, it
seemed; but the lad had always been
bright faced and CHERRY and the great
proprietor remembered him as one of
the happiest among his boys. That
this child could actually suffer for food
while striving to care for his little
charge (the orphan Nellie) seemed to
the gentleman too terrible to be true.
And yet there just before him, his
honest blue eyes telling the same story
which his lips had repeated, stood
Jerry-dinnerless, supperless, and al
most homeless, upon this the widest
night of all the year.
Mr.. WattersOn forgot the rising
flood, which even now was threaten
ing his mills; he forgot the urgent er-
rand which had driven him out into
the storm he forgot the wide social
| hot nlf .
and, remembering only that he was a
Christian man, answerable to his
Father in Heaven for the welfare of
) this child before him, he seized the boy
by the arm, pushed open the door of
the little bakery before which they
stood, and fairly dragged him within.
"Here !" he cried to the bakers wife,
who came, bowling and smiling, to eX-
ecute the great mans commands. See
; Give this lad the best supper you can
cook and all the provisions he can
carry, and send the bill to me-" Then
hurriedly drawing some money from his
pocket book, he thrust it into Jerry's
t hand, and said "When you have
eaten, go back to Mrs. Crawford's and
pay her for IA month in advance. Then
find doctor for Nellie, and stay will
her yourself until she is well. After
( that, come back to me at the mills. If
5 they are standing, you shall have work
No. Not word ~ he continued, as
the astOnished boy would have spoken
''The money is Il present to you anC
t Nellie from men And before Jerry
could recover from his surprise Mr.
Watterson had gone.
Supper money and a doctor fOl
Nellie! Could it be trueP The boy
= unclasped his hand and looked at the
. precious bills. Yes, it was true!
D As he ate the bountiful meal pre-
pared for him by the bakers good wife
, the bobbin-boy pictured Nellie's de
! light when he should return and tel
o her of what had happened him and
3. later, when he faced the dreary storm
= homeward bound, with great basket
. heaped with buns and cakes an(
y oranges from the bakers shelves, upOl
u his arm, his heart was light and hi
$ laugh rang merrily out across the dark
k ness and the rain, as he thought o
how boldly he would meet "Mis' Craw
ford,n and how astonished and puzzle'
she would be when he paid her-not
week, but IL month in advanced
ats just like fairy story !" said he
half aloud, as he climbed the slopp,
steps of his boarding g-house-'Ijust lik
: IA fairy story, with a great big, splendid
! y rich man fairy ~
d 1t was almost morning. Already til
l., black curtain of night, rent here an,
:, there by the furious wind, was slOwl
e lifting toward the east and the dul
J. gray dawn appearing, forming a som
It Der background, upon which the Leaf
IS less trees that fringed the far ava
e hills were painted in waving silhouette
II Since ever the sun had gone dow
the wild storm had continued, and eve
N now the rain, driven by the might
d wind, fell in long, slanting lances upo
If the town and the frothing river, thai
Is filled with great masses of broken ic
o. and debris from all the up-cOuntrN
d roared and plunged between its bank
% and shook with giant hands the fOun
m dations of the mills beneath which
10 ran. .... ....
At the head of the dam, where til
if channel was the narrOwest, and direct
l. ly opposite the lower WattersOn mil
t. was an ice jam.
= Piled block upon block, until it tow
cred high in the air, pressing with tel
10 rible force against the mills, upon til
st one hand, and the natural wall of roc
nt upon the other, the broken ice ha
re formed a great, white barricade, grow
,e ing each moment, which checked til
of mad rush of the water and sent
at whirling backward in eddying wave
< which beat furiously upon the mil