The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-05-26

pleasant room next TO nerS IOr Jnen,
while Rob's mother fed them generous
bowls of bread and milk. cookies,
gingerbread and berries, and coaXed
them with toothsome broths and eggs.
She privately said to Rob's father that
it was pitiful to see how much of them
was merely clothes and how little was
body.
But it was Rob who took chre of
them all the day, taking them to the
barn to hunt for eggs or watched the
cows MIXED; giving the part of his
garden patch and helping them weed
and water the mignonette, petunias
and struggling sweet peas they
planted: teaching them to ride his
velocipede, and even initiating them
into the mysteries of playing marbles
and ball. He swung them till his
manly arms ached. He took them
fishing with him, although their chat
ter drove the perch away and he was
obliged to come away with only three
on his twig. Rob was natural fisher
man and this was indeed trial, for
his efforts were never before so poorly
rewarded. Every game he knew he
taught Bessie and Amy, and showed
them every favorite hiding place.
They in their turn thought him the
"loveliest boy in the world" and each
little scrawl of a letter to their mother
was chiefly made up of Rob did this, "
| oh -Io b,, ~ atD nlN LOT
us take that"
The days passed by swiftly and hap
PLY for these young people and
August was drawing towards its end.
The days were oppressively hot, and
the children, tired of books and quiet
games, one day went down the country
road, shaded by naples and elms set
set out by Rob's grandfather. co."
said Rob- "let's 90 and sit under that
big maple by the river! can see the
leaves move, and | guess there'll be a
breath of air there and lots of stones
and sticks to peg into the water"
Rob led the way, crawling through a
convenient hole in the rail fence Skip
went the stones and splash went the
water, struck now and then by bits OF
tree branches. Laughing and shout
ing as each threw, absorbed in skip
ping stones, they did not heed the
danger coming near.
A loud, snarling bark was suddenly
heard and, looking up, Rob saw large
black dog with foaning mouth, leap
ing the fence and coming towards
them. In an instant he seized Bessie's
and Amy's hands, and fairly dragging
them down to the river stepped reso-
lutely into the wafer. The little girls
lost their trust in "what Bob did" and
began TO scream and plunge back
at the touch of the cold water. Rob
took them by the arms almost roughly
and pulled them in by main force. 1t
was a severe strain for him, and his
face whitened and every muscle in legs
and arms was rigid with the effort.
But he never let 90 his hold, dragging
with all his might until he reached the
middle of the river The girls were
now sobbing with fright and clinging
to him in turn, afraid to stir, afraid
even to look at the water All the
while the dog was running up and
down the bank, snarling and bowling
fiercely at them, while the foam
dropped from his mouth in borrid white
patches. The current was quite swift
but Rob knew his ground. just
along under the tree was sand bar
which ran out well into the stream, on
which his brother had taught him to
swim and where he had often been. 1t
would have been easy to stand there
alone, but with two crying, frightened
children it was quite another matter to
keep his footing in the current,
although the water was scarcely up to
his waist.
80 Bessie" he cried edo try to stand
still and not push against me SO. for |
must keep hold of Amy, too. You
know she's the litti'st and you'll help
me, won't you?" he added in coaxing
tones as Bessie stopped her crying for
q moment. But glance at the dog
made her tears break forth afrcsh.
80 Rob, l am so afraid of the dog! O,
he'll bite us; he will, he will! See him
jump! What shall we dol Rob, dear
Rob, 10 take us home! O, papa, papa!
and Bessie clutched Rob with both
hands, trembling all over.
80, am so cold" sobbed Amy. 81
want to go home! The dog! the dog!
don't let him bite me! Ga! Ga! she
shrieked pitifully.
There, there said Rob, Don't
be afraid; III take care Of you. The
dogs mad; I've heard lots about them,
you see, and they won't touch water.
It's Ike poison to them. We must
just stay here where he won't touch
us, and by and by he will get sick Of
waiting for bite of u1 and go OIL.
would no one ever see them? How
long must we stand here? l can't do it
much longer" he thought as he tried
to brace himself afresh and tighten his
hold on each child. But just then
when his strength was ebbing, the
parting meSage of his uncle and a new