The Springdale news., 1889-09-27
HOW ROB SAVED "SHACK. :"
What Brave Boy D.d, and Why His Pa
 rents are Proud of Him.

And don't drop him into the cis- tern
 No, father,n 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 tue little knolls 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 becn left in charge of "Shack.n and he felt q little embar- rassed by the gravity of his truse
 Shack was g 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 q shack" He was round-eyed, round-oheeked, and possessed Of an astonishing amount of patience. For he would let Rob stand him on his head in tho pile of dirt by the unfinished cistera, and never utter q sound of complaint
 ''WhatIl do to him if he howls2" thought Bob But Shack seemed to have no intention of bowling. lie sat on the floor, blinking at the hot sun like toad and looking so comicaIly wise that Bob burst into laugh in which "Shaek' joined. with chue1Ie and crow peculiar ts himself
 Come. Shack, lets play said Rob. There lay tho heap of moist earth right out of the cistern, and, hap ply. in the shade of tho house all the afternoon.
 A piece Of an old barrel stave made q splendid trowel. A section of stove pipe made yesy good shovel, and in q short time 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 B and in fact, at q critical moment. by careless movement of one of his feet, he demolished the entire left wing of tbe palace and 1attened the dungeon tower to the ground
 Patient Rob bui.tit 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- ed of it. and made queer faces, at which Rob laughed morrily.
 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 tho southwest. and Rob. $ heart beat fast as he thought of ey- 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 q small mouthful for a big cyclone.
 The cloud was coming up very fast. There was not 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 whenit begins to break. The colors in it fascinated Rob so that he almost forgot the danger, g.ntil one long. rattling crash of thunder rolled over the prairie and the weeds on the edge of the breaking about tho house began to sway gently back and forth. as they felt the first breath of the coming storm.
 The cloud dipped lower and lower te the earth. and from it's center. as pushed down by great hand above, iunnol-shaped mass dropped to tho ground. and suddenly af was dark 3. night except for the lightning. whicl was merged into one broad glare m stead of coming in separate flashes,
 Then Rob thought of the cistern There was no water in it yet. and i would answor the place of a cellar II, was only a boy. but he was big an( strong for his age He carried Shack to the edgo of the cistern which nigh have been ten feet deep, and ther looked anxiously around for 8 piece o rope which his father had used in pull ing up dirt the day before, when one o the neighbors helped him, II was nea by. and Rob tied one end of it carefull about 'Shack." close undor his arms.
 Don't cry. Shack. we'll have lot Of fun. said Rob, a little tremulously
 "Father told me not to drop you int the cistern. but l n going to-