Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-06-28
THE w ATCHM ANS boy.

Dut WV tusetNeI titu tbteH idle LOT
three weeks on account Of the strike,
and .Iep had had no work. No one
knew when the strike would end Med
dlesome and hot headed persons were
stirring up strife between employer and
employees, and every one feared trou-
BILE, At such a time the post OF night
Waterman was one OF danger as well ms
OF responsibility But Jeps father
neither feared the one. nor shirked the
other aS12 8
Yet this August evening, as he stood
In the doorway of his cottage, dinner
pail IN hand, ready to start for the
scene Of his nightly task, there were
Inurmurs on his lips. They were not
brought there by fear, but by sense
OF the long night Of loneliness that lay
before him Jep rose quickly from his
seat on the doorstep
Let me go with you, father" he
said. I'D like to GO "
The man looked down on him in as.
constituent.
Why, ladi" he exclaimed. wat be
ye thinkin' of W'at'd ye be dom wi
yourself a night2'
DOM wat you do father" replied
,Jep, stoutIy
Jeps father stood for moment in
thought. 1t was evident that the prop.
osition did not strikehim unpleasantly.
Well, he said Mt last, II like the
sound o it, Here, motherl' he shouted,
turning IN the doorway. Put bit
dinner in ma pail forJepf lie goes wi
me the night"
Jeps mother hurried to the door in
astonishinent
| Whats thatf' she exclaimed; .'Jep
goes wi your S4#F &&
| t'Aye!sJep goes wi me- #
WELL who ever heard the like"
Il want to go, mother said Jep;
"I"---
"Coinel comet" interrupted the man
good naturally; 'stha's no time to lose.
I'll see that no harm comes till nv
So it came about that Jep went that
night with his father. 1t was a good
half mile to the breaker, and 1t was
quite dark when they reached thei,
| destination
| When the dinner pail was hung ul
and the lantern lighted they made the
tour of the breaker, man and boy to
gether This took a long time, for tht
building was Il very large one and had
many wings. Outside it had begun tt
rain and it was very dark, SO dark that
/ the outlines of the massive structure
could not be distinguished against the
blackness of the sky.
When they were seated in the engine
room Jep said @
/ Its a bad night to watch, amt it.
fatherl' s
! s'Whyl" asked his father
| We'll. it's so dark an rainy, you
know"
"An' wat has that to do wi IT."
"Oh, it's n good night to hide" re
piled Jep, looking anxiously off int,
the dark corners of the engine ROOM
"A man night jump out from some
where an you never see him till he was
onto you
80 he might any night an there wa.
any object in it.
We'll you know they've threatened
to burn the breaker an they"----
'sAh, now Don't be scarin' yourself
an don't be tallSin trash Nobody'I
| fire the breaker, warrant We, an no
body'll be botherin' us wi this in ma
pocket" and he placed his hand sig
nitlcantly on the butt of his large re
volver.
| From somewhere in the great build
f, ing came duh noise as of pounding.
followed by a slight rattle. and then all
was still
What was that2" asked Jep in a
whisper
| "Oh, no mon knows what the noises
be, hear EN- every night. No harm
comes o lem"
! He picked up his lantern neverthe
less, and they went up into the screen
room and looked about. but finding
nothing out of place they soon came
back again.
Later on Jep grew sleepy.
Lazy upNh On Tile DellcIl an ) III
your eyes an go to sleep like man,
said Jep's father, IAN don't be noddin
your head Off
Within five minutes from the time
Jep laid his head on the rude pillow he
was fast asleep.
An hour later he was awakened by q
noise. 1t sounded as if men were scuf
/, ding inst outside the door aud as II
some one was trying to shout
Jep raised himself TO his elbow and
looked across the room. The lantern
was still standing ON the engineers
stool, but his father was nowhere in
sight
He was Just about To get down from
the bench when the outer door of ths
4 engine room was opened and two mer
entered. They were strangers to Jel
and they looked rough and desperate
He'll keep still tongue in his heae
for awhile. said one of them.