Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-08-09
Mickey Firms Raft.

Rain had been falling steady for
more than a week. Sometimes it came
down in sheotS, and again it fell in n
slow drlzziing mist which gave de-
pressed look to the landscape. The
trees in Lindslsy's wood dripped rain
and the two streams which fed Browns
pond were changed from trickiing sill
YER rivulets into roaring. muddy tor
rents, tearing madly along between
their banks.
Mickey Firms tame crow refused to
60 out of doors. even when urged to do
so by Mrs. Firms broom, but sat mop.
ing and croaking hosrsely under the
the stove The three little yellow gosl.
ings peeped piaintively and hid under
the doorstep. but the belligerent billy
goat came out of his barrel and stood
in the rain, as though in defiance of
the elements. Mrs. Finn remarked
one day that she hoped he would get
the new monya" which remark her
son thought uncalled for and I'm neces-
sarily severe.
Whether the food at Cooney Island
suggested il. or whether it was a DELHI
ate attempt TO inculcate little Bibli-
cal as wellias profane history into the
minds OF his pupils, is matter of no
Importance. At any rate Mr.. Flaherty.
the pompous and superficial teacher of
the little rei school house under the
hill. read the story of the deluge to his
pupils one afternoon, among whom
was Mickey Finn.
Little Mike was profoundly impress
ed with the story. AS he was an i'm
aginative boy, he lay in his little trun-
die bed at night listening to the patter
OF the rain upon the roof, and saw la
fancy that great ungainlv ark floating
upon the waters. He pictured to him,
self Shem. Ham and Japhet peering
anXiously out of the windows in search
of the land. and TO the ears of his fam
cy came the beating of a nanny goat
and the lowing OF cow
1t happened that the teacher said
nothing to his scholars about the bow
set in the heaven as II sign that there
should b. no more flood, and so Nick
ey reasoning that the earth and espec-
tally COoney Island. was to be inunda-
ted. began 10 think about some means
of deliverance. So troubled did he be-
come over the momentus question
that his mother noticed his abstrac-
ton. She feared that her boy was 90
ing to be i'll. Still the thought of
how to save his mother and father and
the animals from the threatened de-
struction stuck to him like burdock.
At last after hearing from Jack
Doolan some incidents in the adven-
turous life of Robinson Crusoe. an
idea came TO him. He would build a
raft!
Il can make it ont o. the rails in
tn Stumpy Field fince." said he to
himself. The dea tickled him so
much that he began dancing JIG in
his mothers newly-scru bbed kitchen.
and she boxed his ears and sent him
down cellar TO chop some wood.
Here he conlided his scheme to the
nanny goat with an admonitory shake
of the head that she was not to tell
ANY wan. not even tn billy" He
would be sure to save her and the
three goslings. but the crow could
take care of himself, bekase he had
wings"
Mickey decided TO keep his scheme n
profound secret from everyone; not
even Jack Doolan was to know it UNI
Ill the raft had been completed and
the food began to come in at the
kitchen door.
Although little Mike was possessed
of more of the resources of civilization
than fell to the lot of Mr.. Noah, the
ark builder. still he was hampered by
the necessity for secrecy. And so
three days passed before the raft was
finished. Mickey measured the raft
with top cord and found il to be
two cubits in length and one
cubit and span in width. al
though he did not figure according to
Hebrew methods.
So pleased was Mickey with the sue
cess OF his undertaking that it was only
by the most herculean efforts that he
restrained the secret within his bosom.
There were his parents. unconscious
of coming danger. and he had the
means of saving them from terrible
fate. The only relief he had was
daily communion with the billy
goat.
Now billy" he would say, I'VE
needn't be afeerd. FAX, thare's room
on th' raft fur you an yer wife. II