The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-07-09

4ult Ol duAlctf anu rear were WlttUluE
and waiting for deliverance. Among
those who that hour stood gazing ont
upon thJ awful scene was the poor de-
mented youth, Tommy Peterson. Stand
ing with arms akimbo, his head stetch-
ed forward, bis eyes staring wildly
about, and the wind playing with his
long, unkempt yellow hair, he present.
ed picture which sayored indeed more
of the ludicrous than the serious.
Did he really understand the signifi-
canoe of all that was taking place, or
was he prompted TO lend his presence
to the occasion because there was some
thing going onp
BY ten o'clock that forenoon fifteen
families with the exception of six
members s-residing in humble vet COM
Portable homes in the valley, homes of
which they had become possessed
through the hard, slender earnings of
years, these had been removed TO the
village and cared for under hosp;table
roofs. They had been saved from the
frenzy of the flood, but the rest con-
slsting of property. either had been or
was soon to be borne away wreck mp
on the.deep and mighty current. Six
men who, at early daybreak, had at
tempted to ford the stream to the VIII
lives in the effort, and their bodies
were not recovered until the subsiding
of the waters on the seventh day.
Among the number who perisheH
was Mike Burns, one of the most faith
full and respected of those employed at
the foundry. have stated that-~withi
the above exception fifteen families
had been rescued from the frenzy of
the fiood--no, not all rescued, either,
for at early noon that same day it was
soon discovered that Ruben's youngest
child, hardly more than an infant was
missing Up to that hour in the fear
ful excitement attending the rescue Of
the unfortunate people Of the valley,
strange as it may appear, neither Ru-
ben nor his wife, nor, indeed, anyone,
had noticed that this little boy, who
had been left sleeping in his cradie
was not among the number saved. No
time was 10 be lost The child must be
found at once, since with each passing
moment the waters were rising higher
and higher, and soon, very soon, In
deed, it would be too late. The next
moment the father, with blanched face
and wildly beating heart, went rushing
down the street leading to the river.
closely pressed by half a dozen men,
each one eager TO bear part in the mis-
sion of life and love. But there was one
who had preceded all of these, one
who, half an hour before, through q
presentiment which had come to him
God alone knew how. and why--had
cot ont bAf ct1llo Ia ~, -
and to save! But see! He is returning!
Has he found the object of his quest.
and is he bearing it TO those who, ter
ror-stricken, will receive it with hearts
too full of gratitude TO express itp
Watch him as ne comesl How adroitly
he steers his craft among the drifting
cakes of ice and floating debris! Slow
ly, yet surely, he is nearing the shore!
What is that little figure that nestles at
his feetp Ahi--it is--t is the child
the child--Ruben'S child! The boat
comes nearer nearer, and now ii
grinds upon its keel, and strong arms
reach forth and draw it and its occu-
pants ashore, and Reuben, with tears
streaming down his cheeks, while he
lifts his little one to his breast, looks
his thanks--it is all he can do-to his
child's noble preserver- Tommy Peter
son. The rest Of that day, and, indeed.
so long as he lived, Tommy and his
achievement was the talk of Sfic village.
for the flood was apparently lost signt
OF in the minds OF the people in the
praises that were bestowed upon the
brave youth. But at the cost Of his
life had he succeeded in his endeayor.
That NIGHT he was taken violently i'll
from undue exertion and exposure dur
ing the preceding hours, and when the
doctor came to see him he gave little
or no hope Of his living until the mora
ing. Toward midnight the sufferer
grew rapidly worse, and, suddenly
clutching hold of his fathers arms,
and. raising himself up in bed, he ex-
claimed, iE moment of delirious en-
thusiasm: PA, tell the boys that
Booby acas good for something. for he
saved--he saved Ruben's- child!' and,
sinking back upon his pillow, he.closed
hrs eyes and said no more. The third
day Tommy's funeral took place in the
little church in the village The house
was filled to Overlooking. and in his re-
marks the pastor, with much feeling,
alluded to the sad misfortunes attending
the life of the deceased, but said that
all these were oyershadowed and for
gotten in the one grand and beautiful
act which closed his earthly career
The fathers sorrow, though calm, was
deep but the grief of Ruben and his
wife was touching he had saved their
child Geo. NeOeU Lovejoy, IN tbc Cur
rent