The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1881-10-20

threatened such a work OF devastation.
80 they saw" answered Tom. pleased /
with the interest taken in his bit of news. |
''Of course there isn'tany certainty about |
it, but it's just as we'll TO be prepared for /
the worst"
swell, but s'posin' it sweeps right over
this island?' said Mandy, as Tom took up
his hat TO go. "What III become of us?'
Gwen have to take to boats, l reckon
was the laughing reply, which met with no
response from the friends to whom he bade
''gOOd night"
To Obadiah especially the tidal wave loom
ed up in the near future as awful and lin
! posing as the Day of Judgment; in fact,
more awful and imposing, as it seemed
/ more certain The time was set; the peo-
I pie were talking about it, and Specializing
over 1t, and many, doubtless, were making
/ as active preparations as did the MilleritSs
/ in the days when the Millennium was sup
/ posed to he close at hand.
| Mandy Beaies was reminded of a scene
| witnessed when she was child, and lived
on the scuts side of the island. A band Of
! Millerites collected on the shore, dressed
! in their ascension robes, and inspired with
! the firm belief that then and there they
/ should hear the final trump, and be received
| into the company OF angels. They prayed
and shouted and gestlculated so wildly that
| they appeared to the lOokers-On like par
| eel Of lunatics. There had been a long
| drought that summer, the woods had been
! frequently on fire, and the grass was az
| crisp and cOmbustible straw. While the
excited group were in the midst Of their
deyotional-Or acknowledgements, sud
denly, either through accident or by the ma
licious design of one outside the ranks, the
grass blazed up around them, and they
! were in a Gordon OF fire.
"We're all in hell togetherv' shouted the
leader; and the scene was calculated TO i'm
| press one with that idea. Mandy would
have had but faint recollection of it her
! self, as she was quite young al the time,
| but her mother had so frequently told the
| story and described the actors in it that 10
remained lurid picture in her memory,
| which the present emergency retOuched
with more vivid cSloring.
Obadiah Beales went about his work, but
was even more taciturn than usual, so that
his wife was heartily glad when Hetty Mo
riah came home for the summer vacation.
Whatever happened, they would be tOgeth-
er, and II did brighten up the Old house to
have young girl in it who wore white
dresses and blue ri bOns, and had world
Of romance in her heart.
s 'Father, what in the world are you going
to do nOwP asked Hetty, one morning in
July, when Obadiah and his hired man were
seen removing good-siZed row-boat from
the farm wagon, and working 1t slowly
toward the house.
"Never you mind" said Obadiah. 81
| know what Pm about
''But, dear mer' continued Hetty, ''the
house looks disreputable enough now; and
with that boat in the foreground. the neigh
, boris will certainly think we have taken
| leave of our senses"
'WelI, let 'em" said her father. ''What
do l care Tor the ne1ghDOrSP
Hetty wished that he cared a little more
for the looks of things. But as remonstrances
were useless, she went into the house TO
complain to her mother that father was
= doing his best to make the old house look
just like a junk-shOD, and she was sorry
enough she'd invited May Carol and her
brother Sidney to spend week with her
during the vacation May was her room
mate, and Sidney was making collection
OF Indian curiosities, and she knew Tom
would show him where to find arrow heads
, and other relics, and do his best 90 make
, their brief stay agreeable. But il father
( was going to be queerer than ever, and
: would persist an old cellar door on the
croquet-ground, and cluttering up the door
? yard with what belonged at the back OF the
i house, why, she would feel more like run
] ming away from than receiving her expected
visitors.
G But the eye soon accustoms itself to Cd
D dities, and after a few days the old boat
ceased to be unsightly object to Hstty
e Moriah, who found it necessary to have fire.
= quent talks with Tom Kennedy in regard to
3 the proper entertainment OF May and Sid
4 | ney, whom she took pains TO eXtOl very
highly, that Tom might have a realizing
J. sense of their superiority.
r Tom happened in at the Bealsses one
i evening in July, ostensibly TO exhibit some
# abelOna shells which a friend had Just
+ brought him from California, but In reality
r to be near Hetty, whom he couldn't help
admiring, because she was so unlike the
i other girls in Crowded.. 1t was the dullest
% / 4
e and those who staid there the year round
e and never went outside for material t.
; grow upon, remained stunted in mental
c stature and perenuially green.
= This July day had peen most oppressive
J. and the evening was so sultry that thf
c stars seemed to shrink and swoOn with
D languOr. Every body and every thing
= seemed to have lost their wonted vigOr ex
s cept the mosquitoes, whose attentions were
IS most eXasperating.
Tom found the family assembled in the
h sitting-rOom-Mrs Beales asleep in the
e rocking-chair, Hetty crocheting or pretend
% Ing to, and her father studying over thC
g. map which Tom had left In his possession
&c Ppm 'mazin' glad to see YER" saic
D. about time for that ere tid'l wave to come
1t | along, ain'tit?'
!" ''Shouldn't wonder" said Tom, as he lai(
h the shells on the table where the light o
r. the lamp would shine down upon them anC
reveal their prismatio beauty.
" 9TH rack things" said Obadiah.
ID Yes, II VIII" said Tom, busy In listen
Ing TO Hetty's description of sleeve-button
lie and other ornaments that looked like i'm
e mense opals or pieces Of sunset sky. Sht
1t thought they were mOther-of-pearl, hui
l. hHndsomer than any Of that material sh,
is had ever seen, and was now convinced tina
ID they were made or these abeIona shells.
q All at once a strange rolling sound wa
,e heard In the air, like the roar of artillery
h and Mrs. Beales, starting from her nap,ex
NJ claimed: whats that?'' as if she detected
N in the sound something more terrible thar
IS the approach Of thunder. Then a flood o
ID rain struck the house SO suddenly that
IS seemed to reel, and brought them all Il
TO their feet.
sIRs coming!" said Obadiah; ''it's tn,
IL tid'l waveP'
a And there was no denying the deIuge tina
I'd swept down from the sky as if 1t ment t
n carry everything before it. Hetty began T.
m cry at seeing her father and mother so agi
m tated, and chung to Tom as if he alone hat
T. power to protect her from the fury of tn
no storm.
Id 1--WE must go up stairs" said Obadiah
to leading the way, lamp in hand. 'I'n
a ready for it! Pve got boat hitehed fas
IN TO the chimney, and it's big enough to hol
e. every one of us"
Tom might have smiled if Hettv hadn'
ia been there, but her alarm was so YER
-. genuine, and Mr.. and Mrs. Beales were s
r convinced that Long Island was to be swOl
40 lowed up, that his sympathy quite over
Of came his sense of the Ridiculous. 1t was
indeed, a rain of terror, from which an as
no cent to the upper regions afforded no meas
- urable sense Of relief. The roof leake
I'M horribly, the wind tore on the shingles an
mr. but that the thoughtful Mandy had provide
a couple of umbrellas, there would hav
r. been no starch left In any of the party
r. Obadiah stood near the window, watchin
fer the waters to rise and bring the boat o
~ level with his hand, when, in less tim
m than il took Noah to embark, he would pu
himself and family on board, includin
i. Tom, and locate somewhere above high
n water mark.
Tom clasped Hetty in his arms muo
N closer than was necessary, but she made II
= objections, and the umbrella was not
~ very large one.
i' ''Hetty," said Tom, in awhisper, ''if thi
n was the end of the world, what would yo
NJ say to me?'
her hpad moro plOSplv 70 his