Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-11-01
THE LITTLE FOLKS.
HovE Rob So So,

"And don't drop him into the els
tern"
NO, father" replied cur1y-headed
Rob, with a laugh.
Eve viii be back before dark, dear
Rob" And away drove his father and
mother to town, leaving sturdy ten
year-oId Rob standing by the claim
shanty. where he watched the wagon
until it was lost to sight behind one OF
the little knobs IN the rolling prairie.
Rob was not in the least afraid OF
being left alone there, but 1t was the
first time he had ever been left IN
charge OF "Shack," and he felt a little
embarrassed by the gravity of hig
trust.
"Shack' was a 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 est a Shack" He was round
eyed, round-cheeked, and possessed OF
an astonishing amount of patience.
For he would let Rob stand him on his
head in the pile of dirt by the unfin-
Ished clstern, and never utter a sound
of complaint.
"Whatu / do to him if he bowls 2"
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 comicalIy wise
that Rob burst out into a laugh, in
which "Shack" joined, with a chuckIe
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.
Shack" sat near by, almost as much
interested as the youthful architect
himself, although it must be confessed
he did not help much in the building,
and in fact at a critical moment, by
careless movement of one of his feet.
he demolished the entire left wing OF
the palace, and hattened 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 1t, and made queer faces, at which
Rob laughed merrily
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 up
and looked around. There was a bic
black cloud coming up in the south
west, and ROb's heart beat fast as he
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. But there
was no cellar dug yet under the new
house, which looked like a small mouth
full for big cyclone.
/ The cloud was coming up very fast.
! There was not a whisper of wind but
right overhead, the edge of the cloud
which now reached the zenith was curl
ing and twisting, strangely like the
! crest OF a wave when 1t begins to
/ break. The cOlors in it fascinated Rob
so that he almost forgot the danger,
until one long, rafting crash of thun-
der rolled over the prairie, and the
weeds on the edge of the breaking
about the house began to sway gently
back and forth, as they felt the first
/ breath Of the coming storm.
The cloud dipped lower and lower
to the earth, and from it's center, as if
pushed down by a great hand above, a
funnel-shaped mass dropped to the
ground, and suddenly all was dark as
night except for the lightning, which
was merged into one broad glare in
stead of coming in separate flashes.
Then Rob thought of the cistern,
There was no water in it yet, and it
would answer the place of a 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 anxiOusIy 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. It was
/ Nv 20, 4 L
carefully about Shack" close under his
arms.
Don't cry, Shack We'll have lots
of fun, said Rob, little TREMENDOUSLY.
Father told me not to drop you into
cistern, but Pm 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 fat on the ground
/ Just as the cloud burst in all its fury
1t struck the frail shanty, and in two
seconds not a 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 that if
he could only hold out a little longer
! all would be safe. He was fortunately
sheltered a little by the mound Of dirt
/ behind which he lay
The cloud passed as quickly as it
came, and as the rain began to fall In
torrent Rob breathed again as he re-
allied that the cyclone had gone by
and he was unframed.
He ran to the cistern. The rain was
running into it in great streams, and
sShack, who was not proof against
everything, was beginning to cry
A great fear came over Rob that