Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1889-11-09
THE LITTLE FOi.IS.
How Rob Saved "Sha.,k."

mother TO town. leaving sturdy ten
ycor old Rob standing by the claim
shantv, wherG X TGttlitt t'r, wagon
until it was lost to sight tclIiaI tine ~
the little kuolls III the rolling prairie
n,H, waa NOT In the least afraid of
being left alone there. ,'u. 1t WIS the
charge of "Shack. and he felt little
embarrassed by the gravity of his
trust
"Shack" VAS q remarkably good baby,
He derived his peculiar name from the
fact Of having been hrrn in the claim
shantv, which is called in sotne parts
of the W est shack" He was round
eyed. round-cheeked, and possessed of
an astonishing amount of patience.
For he would le. Rob stand him on his
head in the pile of dirt by the until
ished cistcrn, and never utter sound
of complaint.
Nv hatll | do to him if he howls Z"
thought Rob But shack" seemed to
have no intention of bowling. lie sat on
the tlbtlr, blinking 1T the hot sun like u
toad. and looking sd comically wise
that Rob burst out into laugh, in
Which "Shack" joined, with a chuckle
and crhw peculiar to himself.
Come, Shack, let's play" said
Rob. There lay the heap of moist
earth right ont of the cistern, and,
| h&prnv, IN the shade of the house all
| the afternoon.
"Shack" sat near by, almost as Idttch
interested as the youthful architect
himself although il must be confessed
he did not help much in the building,
and in fact ut = critical moment, by a
) careless movement of one IF bis feet.
he demolished the entire left wing OF
the palace and flattened the dungeon
tower to the ground
Patient Rob built it up again, and to
keep SHACK occupied, put pile of
sand into his lap, into which he thrust
his griIny hands and occasionally tasted
bf it. end made queer faces, at which
Rob laughed nerrily.
But when the palace *as almost
done, and Rob was putting the last
touch 10 the last tower, it began to
grow dark very fast. Rob jumped up
and looked around. There was n big
black cloud coming MP i'll the south
west, and Rob's heart beat fast as lie
thought Of cyclones He had heard his
father and mother talk about them,
and they said it was best to go down
cellar when they came. Bnt there
was no cellar dug yet under the ne~
house, which looked like small mouth.
ful for a big cyclone
The cloud was coming up very fast.
There Nns not whisper of ind, but
light overhead, tie edge u the cloud
which now reached the zenith Was curl
ing and twisting, strangely like the
| crest of a wave when it begins tc
break. The colors in it fascinated Rol
So that he almost forgot the danger
Until one long, rafting crash of thun
weeds on the edge Of the breaking
about the house began to sway gently
back and forth, rs they felt the first
breath of the coming storm.
The e)ond dipped lower and lower
to the earth, and from its nonter, as il
pushed down by great hand above, q
funnel-shaped mass dropped to the
ground, and suddenly all was dark as
night except for the lightning. which
Nas merged into one broad glare in
stead OF coming In separate flashes.
Then Rob thought of the ciSterr
There was no water III it yet, and i,
would answer the place of cellar
He was only boy, but he was big and
strong for his age. He carried "Shack
10 the edge of the cistern, which might
have been ten feet deep, and then
looked anxiously around for a 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 il
carefully about "Shack" close under his
arms.
Don't cry, Shack, we'll have lots
of fun" said Rob, little TREMENDOUSLY
"Father told ne not to drop yol into
cistern, but Tn 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
tllem but he was not hurt, and reached
the ground in safety.
Rob threw himself fat on the ground
Just as the cloud burst in all it's fury
1t struck the frail shanty, and in tive
seconds not a board of it was left Rol
dug his fingers into the ground, aud
although terribly frightened by tn,
roar, and the darkness ard lightning
and once even lifted off the ground and
,olled completely over, he felt that il
he could only hold out little longer
all would be safe. He was fortunately
sheltered little by the moand of dir,
behind which he lay.
The cloud passed as quickly rs il
came, and rs the rain began 10 fall il
torrent Rob breathed again as he re
allied that the cyclone had gone by
and he was unframed.
He ran to the ci,tern. The rain Wa,
INNING into it in great streams, Hut
SHACK" who was not proof against
everything, was beginning to cry.
A great fear came over Rob that
Shack" might drown. h tried tc
phil him up, but his strength wa, no
equal to it The sloling walls hin
dcred him now as they had helped hiu
before.
"Oh. ii father and mother would only
,ome!" sobbeu i;oI. ana a. D III an
swer to hi wish almost n tina mo
ment, his father and mother did c"Ile,
and SHACK was soon ~ the top c'ld'
died in his mothers arms.
1t would make too lUuR >i"4, t,
tell how Roh's father and mother cam,
! lust after the storm. Bu. they had
stopped at nciGhbOr'S IN the way
| home, and had been uear enough tC
| goa thn ,.Vri,un carry. the h1uS,. uNuV