St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-09-23
Under n Fly Wheel.

Under n Fly Wheel.
1t was ten o'clock in the morning.
Every one in the factory was at work
The clicking and rattling of the lighter
machinery, the grOaning of heavily
laden shafts, the oily thud of hundreds
of cogs mingled in busy din. The huge
engine sighed as, with his brawny arm
of polished steel, it impelled the main
shaft to turn the wheels of the factory.
Tom worked by the door, near the
engine room. He could, therefore,
easily see the engine and all its sur
roundings. The interest of its rapid,
ceaseless motion partly reconciled him
to the fact that, while most boys of
thirteen were enjoying full liberty out
side, he was shut up within doors.
This morning, more than usually, he
had been watching the forbidden splen
dOrs of the engine room, for the engin-
eer allowed no one in the sanctum.
The great machine fascinated Tom
with its easy grace of movement. His
eyes dwelt long on the neat finish of
the hexagOnal bolt heads that cleaned
about the cylinder. He tried to tell,
from his position, how full the glass
oil cups were, as they flashed to and
fro on the polished arm; and then his
eyes rested on the fly wheel that re-
volved so gracefully i'll its narrow pris-
on. Only one half of the wheel could
he see ut once, the other half being be-
low the floor, almost filling narrow,
rock-lined cavity called the "pit.n
AS Tom watched the whirlmg spokes
! Snan1nH II fhn of iron stnnH
still, so swift was its motion. He re-
membered that once the engineer, see
ing his interest i'll the machinery, had
invited him in, and that he had stood
leaning over the frail wooden guard,
his face so close to the fly wheel that
the wind from its surface blew back
his hair, while he looked down into the
pit with wonder and dread. He re-
membered asking the engineer if he
supposed any one could climb down
there while the engine was in motion.
The answer had come:
"There isn't man in the factory
that has nerve enough, even if there
were rOom,n the space between the
wheel and the wall being hardly foot
and half in width.
The boys eye next wandered from
the object of his thoughts and rested
on the bright brass domes of the force
pumps that occupied brick ''Settle"
on one side of the room, and then up
to the maze of pipes that crossed and
recross ed above the tOiling machinery.
Suddenly, glancing down, he saw a
little child standing beneath the guard
close to the great fly wheel.
Tho hArn in Si,rhf
and little May was his only child.
Toms heart gave a great leap. In an
instant he had scrambled down from
his perch and was i'll the engine room.
AS he passed the doorway he was just
in time to see the child toddle forward
and fall into the pit. With an awful
shudder he waited to see the monster
wheel spurn the baby girl from its
cruel Sides But no such sight came.
He dashed forward and looked into
the pit. She sat on the hard, rocky
bottom, sObbing softly to herself. The
fall had not harmed her, yet she was
still in great danger. Any attempt to
move from her position would give the
relentless wheel another chance.
Tom slipped out of his brown '|jump-
err tore off his light shoes and stood
inside the guard. One eager look in
the direction of the iron door through
which the engineer would come, and
then he began the descent. The great
mass of iron whirled dizzily close to
his eyes; the incline plane down which
he was slowly sliding was covered
deep with dust mingled with oil ; the
thick, oily, damp air, famed by the
heavy breeze from the wheel, almost
took his breath away. Where the
curve of the wheel was nearest it al
most brushed his clothes. With his
back pressed tight against the rocks he
slid down until his feet struck the bot
tom, and now came the worst part OF
the eordeal--thepO pOnderous wheel, sweep
ing i'll giddy curves above him, so affect
ed his nerves that his strength began to
fail. There was one space where the
wheel curved away from a corner, SO
he dropped on his knees there and for
an instant shut his aching eyes.
The child was in the other corner OF
the pit, sitting i'll an open space similar
to that i'll which Tom knelt. AS he
looked past the terrible barrier, she
made movement as if to stand up.
That brought back Toms fleeing sen
ses. If she should stand up the wheel
would strike her. Lying carefully fiat
upon the bottom of the pit, he began
slowly and cautiously to work his way
beneath the mass of flying iron. He
could feel the awful wind raising his
hair as he crept along. Nearer and
nearer he camc to the child and near
er to the curve of the wheel. A
passed beneath it, an incautiOus' move
ment and sudden "burn" on his
shoulder showed that he had touched
it.
The little one had not seen him al
all yet, as she had been sitting and
rubbing her eyes, but she looked W
now, and seeing the pale face streaked
with oil and dust coming towards her
she covered her face again with hel
little hands and sobbed harder than
ever. Tom crept on until he came sc
near to the child that he could lay
hold of her dress rhen he stopped. A
strange dizzy blur kept throwing a vel
over his eyes, and he tried in vain t.
overcome a longing for sleep. He
could feel the ceaseless whirl of the
great wheel, and it made him almost
wild. Curious vagaries and half deliri
Gus fancies danced through his head
With an effort he threw them off, anC
raising his face from the rocky couch
called for help.
Instantly, a dozen mocking voices
from the sides of the pit flung back tn,
cry into his very ears. But the whee
caught the cry, and whirled it away
up into the engine room, i'll distorted
echoes. He called again, and til,
sounds seemed less terrible. The lit
tie girl tried to get up, but he held t.
| her W hitn hrnss and rnnthnh ho,. IL.