St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-01-22

by being satisfied supper was ready,
fathers tea was boiling and bubblinG
on the stove (Jack's limited knowledge
of cooking had not taught him that
; tea should never be allowed to boil),
Jacks basin of broken bread in readi-
ness for the scaIdiDg milk, some dried
; beef as special treat, and plenty OF
good bread, cheese and butter besides.
Inside all was warm and coy, CHEEKY
and home like; outside, stormy aud
clustering.
Two hours passed, and still no faith
err. Jack has made a tremendous eff
fort to delay eating till he arrived; but
bit hy bit the broken bread had disap-
peared followed 10y other selections
from the bill Of fare, while Jane Tapped
Il SANGER of milk, and the Quohdam Fri
day. forgetting his cannibalistic ten
denotes. made ii hearty rePast on dried
beef and pieces of Jacks bread and
| butter.
"Seven o'clock. and father not home
yet Wen, the light will burn IN hour
vet without fixing. Father says it
would burn longer than that, but it's
safest TO look at it every four hours,
and he's sure to be here before it wants
| looking to-" So Jack got his favorite
book from the shelf, and settled down
for coy read in his fathers arm chair
near the stove. IL certainly was very
exciting where Crnsoe and Friday
discovered the arrival of the one-aud-
twenty savages, and disturb them at
their revolving repast. But Jack got
up so early mornings and was SO ac-
| tive all the day. that no wonder his
ideas began to stray and his eyes TO
blink and close. Stub had settled him
self near for little quiet meditation
nose between two black, Out-stretched
fore-paw and gaze fixed ON nothing
in particular: while Jane, having
made her toilet for the night by care
ful washing and patting, dOZed peace
fully behind the stove. Tired Jack
slept, aud dreamed he was Crusoe, and
had Just built beautiful sled, and he
and Friday had just coaSted down
among the cannibals and sent them
! flying on all sides; and the old clock
licked, licked, while outdoors the snow
blew in whrls and Il weary man fought
hard against the wind and sought to
find again the beaten path tn his home.
Hour after hour passed till the faithful
hammer striking ten woke Jack in be-
wilderment at not finding himself in
in his OVID little bed.
"What's the matter ?" he said, shak
ing himself and standing. "Why, how
late it is What can have happened
to father ?"
Stub rOused up, but could not answer
the question, so wisely kept silence
people don't always, you know.
"The light! the light! Oh ! suppose
! it's gone out must go mp this very
minute to see, though it's awful dark,
and the stoves gone out too ; but |
cant stop t. make it up now. Come,
Stub, you can go with me if You want
| to-" said diplomatic Jack, who really
didn't like to go through all those dark
passages and stairways alone, but who
wouldn't have Stub knoW it for the
world.
The house had got all cold, and Jack
| was hunting long about with shivering
fingers before he could find the proper
oil for the light. At last, however, he
found it, spilled lot of it in pouring
| it out into the small can, and got the
rest safely up the first flight of stairs.
Stub following rather sleepily. The
/ light tower was built high above the
dwelling part of the house, and was
reached 10y several steep flights of
stairs, and finally by II ladder to a trap
door The roof and walls from about
four feet from the floor were glass, and
the light. lamp and reflector stood on
! IL kind of standard about five feet high.
All the beautiful brass plates were kept
us brilliant as Il mirror, and the win
dOws were transparent and speckleSS as
pure water. 1t was John HudsOn's duty
to keep them in this condition. Inspec-
tors were always dropping in at uneX-
pected times, and dismissal from the
post would have followed any lack of
proper attention to these details. But
it was the light house Keepers pride to
| keep them bright and FURNISHED even
| beyond any laws and regulations.
Jack reached the foot of the ladder,
and was slowly mounting, when his
| foot slipped and he fell. Stub looked
mt him helplessly, and waited for him
to pick himself up. Jack had kept
hold of his lantern, and fortunately it
/ had not got eXtinguished the oit-cdn
! fell ut little distance.
''W hats the matter now What ailS
my foot - said he making several in
/ effectual attempts to stand. "My, how
it hurts :" And he held it in his hand
while he bravely kept the tears back.
II guess I've spraincd it, or something.
| What shall doP | could manage to
till father comes. But then the light
! that ought to he attended to. Oh, why
amt father back ~ and he WINGED with
pain us il sudden twinge came to his
ankle.
.'Oh, dear, it's tough work" said he,
as with the oil-can siung across one
arm he tried to climb the ladder with
one feet and ono knee.
81 guess | better give it up--pshaw
| What's fellow COED for anyway. If he
can't put himself out of the way for
other folks once in awhile. How the
tower shakes! What il night it is :"
The ascent WAS made ut last and the
light reached. '',Iust in time said
Jack ''the oils all but finished.
guess didn't put as much in as father
did and he hoped around the mar
row space aud trimmed the lamp. 1t
took him some time, and the boys fin
gers were getting stiff with cold, while
his ankle kept bringing a look of pain
across his face.
II shall freeze before get it done"
groaned Jack, putting his finger ends
into his mouth to warm them. 'My
foot my foot ~ he shrieked, as for
getting it for an instant, he had step
ped on it, Stub in the room below,
gave howl Of sympathy, and dashed
frantically at the foot of the ladder to
reach his cOmrade.
~ can't stand it any longer Oh
father. father ~ aud Jack fell uncon-
scio,s IN the floor