Alpena argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1893-1909, 1894-04-25

not here also? Their fears increas
ed as long, curved line of clouds
seemed to form in advance of tn
great cloud and came swiftly on
ward, tossing hither and thither.
1t passed by, however, with {
few harmless gusts, and was sue
ceeded by comparative calm. Th,
sky grew lighter, and with a glac
feeling of relief, Nellie and he
brother retired to rest.
Soon after midnight Ned wa
awakened by loud crash of thun
der, to find it raining. The sounC
of falling water was continuous a.
that of a cataract, and he knew i
was no ordinary rainfall. Spring
ing out of bed he peered out of thu
window into the darkness. A vivit
flash Of tightening showed the
ground covered with countless riv.
ulets, all hurrying away to the banks
of Brush Creek, not more than q
hundred yards distant.
He had been there but a few
minutes, when a sound like dis
tant hurricane startled him. 1t
grew louder and louder, increasing
to thunderous pitch as it came
sweeping down the valley.
AS it came opposite the house, a
flash of dazzling light revealed a
broad line of foam stretching far
across the creek, and moving with
the velocity of the wind. The
water seemed rolling over and over,
whirling and tossing about in the
widest com motion.
He thought it must be cyclone
sweeping over the water, though he
had never seen anything of the
kind. 1t passed by. Another flash
showed the water several feet high
er, and out in the middle of the
stream fioated hundreds of logs,
crowding and jostling each other
as they shot forward, riding on the
crest of great wave.
The dam at Perry's saw-mill had
broken, and the flood that poured
out upon the valley had swept away
logs and lumber, perhaps the mill
itself!
Would the railroad bridge bear the
weight and momentum of all these
rs they came down against it? Ned
knew they must certainly strike the
bridge, for the water nearly touched
it before. He ran to another win
dow, hoping he might see. Dark
ness was again broken by the glare
Of tightening, but no bridge could
be seen. 1t had gone down.
Ned thought of his fathers dan
ger, and his first impulse was to
save him if possible, even at the risk
Of his own life. The nearest sta
tion, where Mr.. Burton would stop,
was on the other side of Brush
Greek. To reach it was impossible,
for the road crossing the creek
above Perry's mill, was under water.
He must 90 five miles to the next
station west.
Quickly putting on his clothes,
he sat down for sober second
thought. He was naturally timid,
wanting confidence in himself, and
the greatness of the task he had
undertaken made him fearful of
failure, Minutes slipped by and he
began to find excuses to stay at
home. The night was dark, it was
raining again, and the roads were
Besides, fathers train did
not come till six o'clock, and they
would know it by that time. Other
trains would be along before them,
and they would find it.
Other trains! Were there not
on other trains, too
fathers going home to their chill
drenp The thought made him un-
easy. A nobler impulse was striv-
ing for mastery.
He looked up at the little clock on
the mantel. 1t was twenty minu-
tes till three, and in forty minutes
a fast passenger train was due from
the west. A sharp curve just be-
fore crossing the valley would pre-
vent the engineer seeing the danger
in time to save the train. All would
go to certain destruction.
There was but one right thing to
do, and he would do it; he must 90,