Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-10-04

hHnY drove MS fntn0f ana mother 10
town, leaving sturdy ten-year.old Rob
standing By the clalm.shanty, where he
watched the wagon until II was lost to
sight behind one Of the little kn0lls In
The rolling prairie.
Rob was not In the least afraid Of be-
ng left alone there, but II was the first
lime he had ever been left IN charge Of
Shack" and he felt little embaf-
raseed by the gravity Of HE trust.
"Shack" was O remarkably good baby.
He derived hls peculiar name from the
fact Of having been born ln the claim
ehanty, which is called In some parts Of
he west "shack." He was round-eyed.
round. checked and possessed Of an as
tonlshlng amount Of patience. For he
would let Rob stand him on his head In
tho pile Of dirt by the unfinished clstern.
and never utter a sound OF complaint.
"What'll / do TO him II he howlsY'
thought Rob. But "Shack" seemed ~
have no intention Of bowling He sat on
the floor, blinking at the hot sun like o
toad, and looking so comically wise that
Rob burst out into a laugh, In which
"Shack" Joined with a chuckle and a crow
peculiar to himself.
Come, Shack let's play" said Rob.
There lay the heap OF moist earth right
out of the clstern, and, happily, In the
shade Of the house all the afternoon.
A piece Of an old barrel staye made a
splendid trowel. section Of stove
pipe made q 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.
HI 4 L
interested as the youthful architect him
self, although il must be confessed he
did not help much In the building, and,
In fact, at a critical moment, by care
less movement OF one OF his feet, he de-
molished the entire left wing of the pal
ace, and ilattened the dungeon tower 10
tue 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 tasted
of IT,, and made queer faces, at which
Rob laughed mcrrily.
But when the palace was almost done,
and Rob was putting the last touch 10
III" last tower, it began TO grow dark
very fast. Rob jumped up aud looked
aiu.!nd. There was a big black cloud
coming up in the southwest. and Rob's
heart beat fast as he thought OF cy-
,lOnes. He had heard his father ana
mother talk about them, and they SAID
II was best TO go down cellar when they
came. But there was no cellar dug yet
under the new house, which looked like
s.aaIl mouthful for BIZ cyclone.
The cloud was coIniAS up very fast.
There was not whisper of wind, but
Eight overhead, the edge of the cloud
.hIch now reached the zenith was curl.
ing and twisting, strangely like the crest
q! wave when it begins to break. Tn"
culOTs in it fascinated Rob 50 that he
almost forgot the danger, until one long.
rattling crash of thunder rolled over IL.
prairie, and the weeds on the edge OF tIr
breaking about the house began to swA
gently back and forth, a5 they felt tn.
liist breath Of the coming storm.
The cloud dipped lower and lower 4,
the earth, and from its center. as II
pushed down by great hand above. Il
lunIel-shaped mass dropped to the
ground, aud suddenly all was dark o.
night except for the lightning, which was
merged into one broad glare instead Oi
coming iG separate flashes.
Then Rob though. Of C cistern. There
was no water in IL yet, and it would an
swer the place of II 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
fal her had used in pulling 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, a little tremulously.
Father told me not TO drop you into the
cistern, but I'm going to-"
Then the brave boy carefully lowered
his precious load down the cistern. The
walls sloped inward as they neared the
bottom, and "Shack" rubbed against
them; but he was not hurt, and reached
the ground in safety.
Rob threw himself fiat on the ground
just as the cloud burst in all its fury. 1t
struck the frail shanty, and in two sec
ouds not board of it was left. Rob dug
his fingers into the ground, and although
terribly frightened by the roar, and
the darkness and lightning, and once
even lifted off the ground and rolled
completely over he felt II he could onj
hold out little longer all would be safe
He was fortunately sheltered little by
the mound of dirt behind which he lag.
The cloud passed as quickly as il
came. and as the rain began to fall in a
torrent, Rob breathed again as he real
lied that the cyclone had gone by,and he
was unharmed.
He ran to the cisten. The rain was
running into it in great streams, and
"Shack," who was not proof against
everything, was beginning to cry.
A great fear came over Rob that
"Shack" might drown. He tried to pull
him up, but his strength was not equal
to it. The sloping walls hindered him
now as they had helped him before.
"Oh, ii father and mother would only
come p sobbed Rob. And as IL In an.
swer to his wish, almost at that mo.
ment his father and mother did come
and "Shack' was soon at the top, cud.
died In his mothers arms.
1t would make too long story to tell
hOg Rob's father and mother came jus
after the torn. But they had stopped
at n neighbor's on the way home, anu
had been near enough to SEQ tho cylone
carry the house away.
You can imagine how proud they felt
of their boy Rob.
And as for "Shack," he Is O stout,
handsome baby yet, and hope he will
grow up TO tell his children how RoL
saved him from the cyclone. Don't your
C. NJ. Sheldon, in Youths Companion