The Russellville Democrat., 1889-07-18

"Thats how it looked to us. For times had been hard with US. and, as 1 told you, Old Keswick had always call
 culatod that the losses must be evened up on wages somehow.
 !" And this feller, I'll be bound he's l never invented nothin' more useful than a new tie to his cravatp says Jim
 Bryce, he'll fool away no end of | money, and then either the mill will have is @ down, or wages will, and mine has got about to the foot of the ladder now
 !" There's no doubt we'll go down, unless some of his experiments blows
 him up. Wish they would answers
 Tom. only he put it rather uglier than
 that.
 .of course twas only talk. but the ] feelin' was under it, and, after awhile, 1 from hopin somethin' would happen, tho boys went a little farther, and got { to planuin' how to make it happen. 'sI aiu't goin' to tell much about any plot. l took care not to know much
 about ii. for fear I'd run across some thin I'd feel bound to try to hender.
 and didn't want to hender nothiu',
 that's the fact Only there was no mur- der nor notEin'. like that in it; the men
 wasn't that kind nd-leastways. most Of ! em wasn't
 Go No, we aiut goin to hurt mammy's darliu', ,-b bless his pretty little heart!-- not less he gets in the way, when he'd 1 better be out of it' says Tom, with ] grin. But if the plaything he's so tick 1 led over jest flies to flinders some day, and the noise scares him so that he gives it up and runs home, it'll be the
 best thing for him and all the rest Of us'
 Seemed like nobody doubted he'd
 be easily scared. and so the whisperin
 and blacks looks and secret meetin's
 went on.
 One day in summer a box was i brought into the room where we work ed. I shall always remember that day. just how every thing looked. It had l been a bright warm mornin', but about noon it clouded up slowly, and every i breath of wind died away. Not leaf moved on the trees, and every thing
 was still, like as if the world was i holdin it's breath and waitin for some- 1 thin
 Inside the mill every thing looked darker aud gloomier than usual in that queer gray light. Great piles of castin's throwed back shadows over the slippery floor; the long iron shafts
 was like hungry arms forever reachiu' down and drawin back empty, and from under the brick archway the round door of the furnace seemed glarin' out 1 like big red eye. There's times when common things don't have common look, and it's mostly them kind of times that is burned into your mem'ry somehow
 'Nothin' seemed to go that day the way folks had calculated. That miser- ble lit le box had no sooner been set down in the room than somebody called 'Histl Look outr and there was Boss Darlin', comin' back from his dinner at an onarthly hour when he'd never been known to come before. He had a rose stuck in his button-hole, and
 looked like daneiu' master goin' to party, as 1 heard Bob mutter, as he slipped the box out of sight under a pile of stuff at the end of the room. They couldn't carry out their plan then. so there was nothin' left 'em but to hide it.
 'The boss looked round kind of smilin' and pleasant like. He d got that model he was busy with about into workin' order. and he was wonderful pleased over 1t. And what dld he do. | that day, but have it brought out into our room because, the weather hayin' turned gloomy like, there was better light by big window there. So there he stayed fussin' over it, just as if he was on guard.
 Then it began to thunder, and there was a sudden dash of rain, so that Jim Bryce's little girl, who had come down with his lunch basket couldn't go home. Jim was piece worker. and always said he could do twice as much work in an afternoon if he had q snack bout three clock.
 Jim looked sort of uneasy, now and then, when little Jimmy get of to the back part of the room any ways nigh where that box was. But he couldn't say nothin'. and may be there wasn't any danger; only was sure he didn't like her round there, and was glad when she wandered off into the room 1 beyond-a store-room where she was let stay some times, while she waited for her fathers basket
 The storm grew heavier instead of lighter, till we could hardly see to work. All at once there was blindin' flash of light and a crash as if the whole earth was a-tearin' to pieces, and we all started and tumbled in every direc- tion. The minute we could get our senses and look round we found that the whole end of the room was blowed of, and gully plowed way down to the foundations like as fl bomb-shell had tore through.
 Beyond that ragged openin' the great brick wall was still standin'. but Wc tNbAA 9eD titet Al " s'9 "tis III Nti~ weaviu' just ready to fall. Inever seen any thing look SO awful as that trem- blin wall did; for over on the other side Of it run another buildin, where the fnishin' rooms was, and all hands at work.
 "I s'pose the same thought struck us all at once-that the only hope for 'cm was a peal of the bell that would send em all hyin' to the entrance at the far end Of the buildin' Twas in the old days, you sec before the new part Of i the mill was built or we had any alarm