The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-03-24
NUMBER u.

znota And people do have to hold on
o it. or else tie something to it. What
Else was it put there for?''
"Pshawr' said Franz. "YOu are
making a great bother about little
hing. Any peg might break with q
great, heavy boy, like you, hanging to
"Not if it was as thick as this and
had no knots in it, said Carl, walking
away, quite as angry as he came, for he
saw that the carpenter cared nothing at
all for his mishap, nor for his own rep
utation in the matter of pegs.
When Lotta and Peter reached home
they found no Carl, and when they told
their mother what had happened, she
was greatly frightened. Without wait
ing to put anything on her head, and
followed by several neighbors who had
been attracted by her cries, she ran to
the dam. On the way, quite number
of people ran out of their houses and
shops 10 see what was the matter, and
these all followed the poor mother; SO
that when they reached the bank of the
pool there was quite little crowd col
iected. A new search was Immediately
begun, but it was soon very evident that
Carl was not in the stream.
While all this was going on, and Lot
ia and Peter were crying. and some of
the older men and women were trying
to comfort the poor. distressed mother,
who was certain that she had lost her
boy, Carl came walking down among
them, with the broken peg still in his
hand. He had been home, and finding
no one there had come to look for the
family, supposing that Peter and Lotta,
- i, L. Lxy ka
When he saw the crowd. he was almost
see him. He was still hatless, and wore
sun had dried them a good deal.
The moment his mother saw him, she
rushed to him and caught him in her
arms, while little Lotta and Peter clung
to his legs. The people gathered
around him and, as soon as he could
get q chance to speak, they eagerly
asked him where he had been, and how
everything had happened. Carl told
them about the broken peg, and how it
had had knot in it, and how he had
been up to see Franz Holman about it.
who didn't. care q snap of his finger
whether people tumbled off dams and
broke their necks or not. Then he
passed around the peg, SO that every
body could see that he was right in
what he said about it, and that it was
not his own fault that he fell from the
top of the dam.
Some of the good people laughed as
they looked at the peg, while others
said that Franz Holman ought to know
better than to use piece of wood like
that for such purpose; but the most
of them seemed to think the broken
peg was q matter of very little conse-
quence. They were glad the boy was
safe, and there was an end of the mat
ter.
But it happened that two or three
of the principal men of the town had
been attracted to the stream by the
crowd, and an idea struck the mind of
one of these.
If Franz Holman was SO careless as
to use wood like this, in peg which
should have been a very strong one, he
may have been equally careless in build
ing the dam itself. And, now that I
come to look, it seems to me that the
water is running through q great many
cracks and crevices."
Several persons now examined the
face of the dam, and they thought
that it did indeed look very leaky. 1t
was not strange that this had not been
noticed before, for it was very seldom
that any one, excepting boys, came
down to the bed of the stream under
the dam. After little consultation
among the older townsmen it was
thought that the dam might be weak,
and that it ought to be carefully, exam
ined. Accordingly, the very next day.
several carpenters-and Franz Holman
was not among them-were set to work
to make q careful examination of the
condition of the timbers, and they soon
found that many of them were very
rotten, and that Holman, in trying to
make as much profit as he could out OF
his work, had put in timbers which had
been taken from an old bridge that had
been torn down, and which were. prob
ably, unfit for use when they were put
into the woodwork of the dam. Now.
they were certainly unfit to stand the
strain put upon them by the great body
of water in the dam.
This discovery excited great deal
of indignation against Holman. for II
the dam had given way the whole body
of water in the pond instantly would
have poured down into the valley of the
stream, where, q short distance below,
there were q number of small cottages
inhabited by poor families. Had the
accident occurred in the night these
houses might have been swept away
with all their occupants.
The sluice-gate was opened and the
water allowed to flow gradually out OF
the pond: When the water was low
enough, the old dam was to be taken
down and q new and strong one built.
Some of the officials of the town went
to see Franz Holman. to call him to an
account for his dishonest workmanship,
but they did not see him. He did not
want to talk to any one about the dam,
and had gone away in the night, taking
all his tools with him in his wagon, and
leaving, unfinished, the work on which
he was engaged.
As they walked home from their un-
successful visit the good townsmen be-
gan to talk of young Carl, whose strange
accident had probably prevented sad
disaster to the town. One of them pro.
posed making him present, and when
it was objected that the boy ought moi
to be rewarded simply for getting 9
tumble from the top of q dam, this mar
asserted that if it had not been fol
Carfs sturdy earnestness in charging
Holman with his bad work, and in aft
erward bringing the attention of the
towns-people to it, no one would have
thought of examining the dam.
This view of the case was thought
fair one, and when the matter had been
considered for day or two it was de.
termined that the town should senC
Carl to school. He was known to be &
good, smart boy, but his mother, WHIT
had lost her husband. could not affort
| to give her eldest son the education h
ought to have.
When Carl was told that he was ts
| have q new suit of clothes, and was t.
be sent to school to Baroles-a towi
about five miles away. from which h
could walk home on Sundays and holi
days he was delighted. To go Il
school to Baroles was a thing he hat
longed for, during more than year
| And his mother was Just as glad as ht