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

the rolling prairie.
Rob was not In the least afraid Of be-
ng left alone there, but 1t was the first
inc he had ever been left In charge Of
"Shack," and he felt little embal-
rassed 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
he west "shack." He was round-eyed
round checked and possessed of an as
tcnlehing 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 howls2'
thought Rob. 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 wise that
Rob burst out into a laugh, in which
"Shack" joined with chuckle and crow
peculiar to himself.
Come, Shack, let's play" said Rob.
There lay the heap Of moist earth right
out of the cistern, and, happily, In the
shade of the house all the afternoon.
A piece of an old barrel stave made u
splendid trowel. A section of a stove
pipe made very good shovel, and in a
sholt 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 him
self, although it 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 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 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 to
III" last tower, it began to grow dark
very fast. Rob jumped up and looked
Uiu.!ud. There was big black cloud
coming up in the southwest. and Rob's
'icart beat fast as he thought of cy-
clones. 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
u s.aall mouthful for biz cyclone.
The cloud was coming up very fast
There was not a whisper of wind, but
i.ght overhead, the edge of the cloud
"hIch now reached the zenith was curl
ing and twisting, strangely like the crest
oi & wave when it begins to break. The
rulors in it fascinated Rob so that he.
almost forgot the danger, until one long
rattling crash of thunder rolled over til,
prairie, and the weeds on the edge of th.
breaking about the house began to swH
gently back and forth, as they felt tn
inst breath of the coming storm.
The cloud dipped lower and lower l.,
the earth, and from its center. as If
pushed down by great hand above, Il
lUnIel-shaped mass dropped to the
gtound, aud suddenly ali was dark a.
night except for the lightning, which was
merged into one broad glare instead ol
coming in separate flashes.
Then Rob thought of e cistern. There
was no water in it yet, and it would an
swer the place of II cellar. He was only
a 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 u piece of rope which his
IA 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
IL. II o,aI hAv 4 .
bottom, and "Shack" rubbed against
them; but he was not hurt, and reached
the ground in safety.
Rob threw himself flat on the ground
| Just as the cloud burst in all its fury. Ii
| struck the frail shanty, and in two sec
ouIs 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 if he could onls
| hold out a little longer all would be safe
He was fortunately sheltered little pJ
the mound of dirt behind which he lay.
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.
/ lie ran TO the clStern, Inc rain w as
running into it in great streams, and
SHACK who was not proof against
| everything, was beginning to cry.
great fear came over Rob thai
"Shack" might drown. He tried to pul
him up, but his strength was not equa
TO it. The sloping walls hindered hin
now as they had helped him before.
"Oh, ii father and mother would onl,
come p sobbed Rob. And as il in au
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 a story to tel
| how Rob's father and mother came jus
after the storm. But they had stopped
at n neighbor's on the way home, ant
had been near enough to sec the cylon,
carry the house away.
You can imagine how proud they fol
of their boy Rob.
And as for "Shack, he is a stout
handsome baby yet, and hope he viii
! grow up to tell his children how RoI
saved him from the cyclone. Don't you
C. NJ. Sheldon, in Youths Companion
All the birds of the swallow kind r,
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