Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-01-17
MICKEY FINS RAFT.

%llls mist which gave depressed look tn
the landscape The trees in LindsIev's
wood dripped rain, and the two streams
winch fed Browns pond were changed
from trickling silver rivulets into roar
ing muddy torrents, tearing madly along
between their banks ''-0--s
Ahcky Firms tame crow refused IN no
out of doors. even when urped TO do sso
10y Mrs Finn broom. but sat moping and
croaking hoarsely under the stove The
three little yellow goslings peeped plain
lively. and hid under the doorsten INT
the belligerent billy goat came out of his
barrel and stood in the rain, as though in
dehance OF the elements Mrs Finn re-.
marked one day thai she hoped he would
get the ''uewmonya, which remark her
son thought uncalled for and unnecessa-
rily severe
Whether the flood at Cooney Island sug-
geSted 1t, or whether it was deliberate
attempt TO lnculcate little biblical as
well as profaue history into the minds of
his pupils, is a matter of no Importance
at any rate, Mr. Flaherty. the pomDous
and superGcial teacher of the little red
schoolhouae under the hill, read the story
OF the delnge to his pupils one afternoon.
among whom was Mickey Finn
Little Mike was profoundly impressed
with the story AS he was an magma
tive boy, be lay in his little trundIe bed
at night listening to the patter of the
ram upon the roof, and saw in fancy that
great ungainly ark floating upon the
waters lie pictured to himself Shem,
Ham and Japhet, peering anxiously out
OF the windows III search of the land. and
TO the ears of his fancy came the bleating
oI nanny goat and the lowing of a COW
II happened that the teacher said moth
ing TO his scholars about the bow set in
the heavens Hs = sign that there should be
no more L."-. ....,. So Mickey. reasoning
that the earth, and especially CooneY
Island, was to be inundated, began to
think about some means of deliverance
30 troubled did he become over the
momentous question that his mother
noticed his abstraction She feared that
her boy was going to be i'll Still the
thought OF how to save his mother and
father and the animals from the threat
ened destruction stuck to him like a bur
dock At last. after hearing from Jack
boolan some Incidents in the adventurous
life of Robinson Crusoe, an idea came to
him lie would build a raftl
Il can make it out O. the rails in th'
Stumpy Field tnce said he to himself
The idea tiCEled him so much that he be-
gan dancing jig in his mothers newly
scrubbed kitchen, and she boxed his ears
and sent him down cellar to chop some
wood Here he confded his scheme TO
the nanny goat with ali admonitorv shake
OF the head that she was not to tell ANY
wan, not even tn billy" He would be
sure to save her and the three goslins, but
the crow could take care of himself. be
kase he had wings"
Mickey decided to keep his scheme
profound secret from every one; not even
Jack D0olan was to know it until the raft
had been completed and the food began
to come in at the kitchen door
Although little Mike was possessed of
more OF the resources of civilization than
fell to the lot Of MIR Noah, the ark
builder, still he was hampered by the
necessity for secrecy And so three DAYS
passed before the raft was finished
Mickey measured the raft with q ton
cord, and found it to be two cubits in
length and one cubit and a span in width
although he did not figure according to
Hebrew methods
So pleased was Mickey with the success
of his undertaking that it was only by
the most herculean efforts that he re
strained the secret within his bosom
There were his parents, unconscious of
coming danger, and he had the means of
saving them from a terrible fate The
only relief he had was daily communion
with the billy goat
Now, Billy, he would say. we needn't
be Altered Fax thares room on tn raft
fur you an yer wife If yen only kape
still an not be buckin' yell not be drowned
like thin other billy goats.
AT last the day memorable in the an
nails of Cooney Island came. Tho dawn
was murky and gloomy Little Mike
arose with the sun and dropped softly
out of the window lie was about to test
the raft to see if it was pondworthy
He first took the billy down to the pond
and tied him to bush The nanny fol
lowed The goslings were safely slowed
away in the boys pockets, where they
kept up an unavailing peeping against
the close confinement. The dog went
along without any urging The billy
the nanny and the dog each had a corner
of the raft to itself, while the goslings
were granted the freedom of the deck
The raft was propelled by long pole
Ont into the muddy waters of the pond
Mickey urged the raft, while the crow
few around in wide circles overhead
The raft tioated and behaved beautifully
1t rode the troubled waters like Mrs
McGee's drake The floating domestic
menagerie was getting along swimmingly
until that notorious gossip, Mrs Murphy,
looked out Of the kitchen window and
saw the raft She uttered a yell of ter
ror and exclaimed
God save usl there's that larrup
Mickey Finn foatin around on big
boord wild goats an dogs, an phwa; ;
thin little yaller things on tn boord:
Musha, but thares gosiings Run, Paddy
an tell his mother.
In less than FIVE minutes ell the resi-
dents of the island were on the margin of
the pond, including the elder Firms Mrs
Finn was in a paroxysm of fear lest her
son should be drowned. while her hus
band contented himself with brandishing
a stout hickory stick in Mickeys direc
ton. and threatened to use it if he did not
"stheer tn boat ashore.
In the meantime the sluice gate of the
pond had been lifted in order to relieve
the dam of too much pressure The raft
swung around into the current made by
the sucking sluice gate The dog began
to howl and tug at his cord The goslings
ran hither and thither upon the raft, and
their feeble peeping wrung Mrs Finn
heart with anguish.
ALI werra werral me goslin's u 60
down tn mill racel'
All the til.o Mickey was working with
all his might with the pole, and at last
succeeded in getting the raft out Of the
current Encouraged by his mothers
pleadings and frightened by his fathers
threats, he poIed the raft toward the
shore on which his parents were standing
The water was falling rapidly, and the
raft caught upon a post Before little
Mike could release his ark from its pre-
carious position it began to slant alarm