St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-08-14

theirs, or the sounds of the cannon far
away, which were adding their notes
of deep rejoicing. The afternoon be-
| pap to grow shorter. Still the children
! slept on. A storm was sweeping up
| the valley, and the distant rumbles OF
1.-THE thunder seemed but echoes OF the
cannon's roars, which had long since
died away.
Martha awoke with start. to lind
the belfry quite dusky. and Bob stiu
asleep. Wake up. Bob" she sals.
"a thunder storm is coming up. We
had better get home" J
Bob sat up, rubbing his eyes and
saving: Il say, Mat, why didn't you
call me before? 1t must be very late.
and father and mother will be coming
home. and will think we are lost. Let's
run as quick rs We can"
Down the old ladder the two chill
dren flew as fast as they could. But
to their surprise they found the door
refused to open, no matter how they
| tried.
.Pull, Mat. there, we must open it.
The wind S gone and played us nice
trick. any way" Pulling, however,
did no good, the children were close
prisoners.
"Mat," said Bob. "would you be
afraid to stay here all night?"
mo, Bob" replied the little girl
"God will take care of us. You know
We are only in His own house
"Yes. know that, but it's awful
| lonesome.
Lets get into one OF the pews when
the storm comes down, and lie on our
faces SO that we can't see the light
ming: it is bright enough to seare fel-
low." They could hear the thunder
coming nearer and nearer. and tho
lightning grew more brilliant every
moment. lighting up the dark re-
| cesses.
Don't be afraid, Mat; what you
said about its being Gods house ID all
right. | guess" whispered Bob. as hs
buried his face i'm the cushions beside
his little sister Listen! Crash! Crash!
| What noise the storm makes. Growl,
growl.
.Say, Bob," whispered . little
frightened voice, rs that the storm
making that noise?"
At that moment q flash Of vivid
| lightning made Bob look up. and close
to him, coming gradually nearer and
nearer, he saw a1arge black body. He
felt the breath of some living thing ON
his face, and catching his little sister
in his arms he jumped oveSthe back OF
| the cushioned seat and ran down tho
aisle, while something pattered, Pas-
tered after him.
Where should he go? The door was
shut! He thought Of the ladder. Up.
up he ran; pstter, patter behind him
came the horrible shadow. The thing
could climb, too. He pressed his little
sister closer Don't be afraid. Mat, :"
he .aid. Then he caught hold of the
bell-rope and jumped out Of the
window, still holding on. Could tho
bear. for it was indeed one, follow him
or not?
How the storm ragged! How the wind
blew the drops Of rain into the faces 0f
the children! The growls of the beSr
were nearly lost in the roars OF thun-
der, which shook the old building. and
the rope swayed backward and foD
ward; still the children held on.
..Pray Mat" said Bob. God viii
take care of us and let rs be safe.
.Hark! What is that noise! See
the smoke! Bob. the Westinghouse -
ON fire."
The flames were away of now; would
they come creeping soon to where tho
children wers? The lightning must
have struck the building. Crackle!
cracklc! The forks of ilame darted here
and there. Can no one save the young
bell ringers?
Yes, God was watching over the lit
tic patriots. He would need to use
them vet in the land He had that day
made free.
They hear voices below.
Bob. Martha. are you mp thcreF
"Yes, yes,r shouted the children.
The fire was near them; the flames
famed their checks and scorched theif
faces as they hung to the rope =
Jump" strong voice REPLIED
Jump, both of your =
There we're kind arms below to catch
the children; and there were eyes wet
with tears, and shaky voices that blessed
them.
Bob and Martha lived to see many,
many Fourths of July, but that first ono
passed i'm the old meeting house, they
never forgot. The little hands which
rang freedom through the country VIII
lagc grew wrinkled and feeble, but
their hearts ever trusted in God. as
upon that Fourth of July night ID
1776.-Cornelia NJ Parsons, m NJ 4.