The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-09-21
HOW ROB SAVED "SHACK.

''Iake good care Oh 'Shack, ROD.
al will, mother"
"And don't drop him into the els
tern"
mo, father" replied curly headed
Rob, with a laugh.
I'VE will be back before dark, dear
Rob- and away drove his father and
mother to town, leaving sturdy ten
year-old Rob standing by the claim
shanty, where he watched the wagon
until it was lost to sight behind one of
the little knobs in the rolling prairie.
Rob was not in the least afraid of be-
ing left alone there, but it was the first
time he had ever been left in charge of
"Shack," and he felt little embar-
raised by the gravity of his trust.
Shack was remarkably good
baby. He derived his peculiar name
from the fact of having been born in
the claim-shanty, which is called in
some parts of the West u "shack." He
was round-eyed, unchecked, and
possessed of an astonishing amount of
patience. For he would let Rob stand
him on his head in the pile of dirt by
the unfinished cistern, and never utter
sound of complaint.
"Whatll l do to him if he howls?"
thought Bob. But SHACK" seemed to
have no intention of bowling. He sat
on the floor, blinking at the hot sun
like a toad and looking so comically
Iuicn f1of Rob h,r.f it,fn 1atrrrb in
which SHACK" joined, with q chuckle
and crow peculiar to himself.
Come, Shack lets play" said
Rob. There lay the heap Of moist
earth right out of the cistern, and, hap
PLY, in the shade of the house all the
afternoon.
A piece of an old barrel stave made a
splendid trowel. A section of a stove
pipe made very good shovel, and in a
short time a gorgeous palace arose,
more substantial and producing more
real happiness than many of those
Spanish castles you sometimes build
when you get to be older children.
Shack sat near by, almost as much
interested as the youthful architect
himself, although it must be confessed
he did not help much in the building;
and, in fact, at a critical moment, by a
careless movement of one of his feet,
he demolished the entire left wing Of
the palace. and tlattened the dungeon
tower TO the ground.
Patient Rob built it up again, and to
keep Shack occupied, put a pile OF
sand into his lap, into which he thrust
his grimy hands and occasionally tast-
cd of it, and made queer faces, at
which Rob laughed merrily.
But when the palace was almost done,
and Rob was putting the last touch to
the last tower, it began to grow dark
very fast. Rob jumped and looked
around. There was big black cloud
coming up in the southwest. and Rob
heart beat fast as he thought of cy-
clones. He had heard his father and
mother talk about them, and they said
it was best to go down cellar when they
came. But there was no cellar dug yet
under the new house, which looked
like small mouthful for big cyclone.
The cloud was coming up very fast
There was not a whisper of wind, but
right overhead, the edge of the cloud
which now reached the zenith was
curling and twisting. strangely like the
crest of a wave when it begins to break.
The colors in it fascinated Rob so that
he almost forgot the danger, until one
long. rafting crash of thunder rolled
over the prairie. and the weeds on the
edge of the breaking about the house
began to sway gently back and forth. as
they felt the first breath of the coming
storm.
The cloud dipped lower and lower to
the earth. and from it's CENTER as if
pushed down by great hand above, a
funnel-shaped mass dropped to the
ground, and suddenly all was dark as
night except for the lightning, which
was merged into one broad glare in
stead of coming in separate flashes.
Then Rob thought of the cistern.
There was no water in it yet, and it
would answer the place of a cellar. He
was only boy, but he was big and
strong for his age. He carried Shack"
to the edge of the cistern which might
have been ten feet deep, and then
looked anxiously around for piece of
rope which his father had used in pull
ing up dirt the day before, when one of
the neighbors helped him. 1t was near
by, and Rob tied one end of it carefully
about "Shack," close under his arms.
Don't cry. Shack we'll have lots
of fun" said Rob, little TREMENDOUSLY.
Father told me not to drop you into
the cistern, but I'm going to-" -,