The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-08-22

her brother and cross the meadow in
front of the house and climb up the
/ biuff TO safety. But Mr. Wentworth
knew that the river would have 10 rise
many feet yet to be dangerous. And
| as they crossed the bridge half way
| down from their house to the main
| river, he looked at the water and said
to his wife: Yes, it's falling. 1 guess
We're going to get off without a flood
this time
/ At home Kittie and Bert found no
dlf1lculty in amusing themselves. The
little girl was 10 or II years old, and her
| brother about two and one-half years
younger. The day had been bright but
warm until O'Clock, when it clouded
| up and there was smart shower. Still
| the rain weSH not heavy where they
were, but far off to the northeast il
was easy to see that a great storm
was raging. AS it began to grow dark
kittie came back from the river
It's higher than it was, but I fS.:.ass
it isn't going to rise any more,' she
said to her brother.
I wish father would come" returned
| Bert, uneaSily.
''oh, they waited till the shower was
| over before they started" answered
| kittie, They'll be along soon now
I'll light the lamp and get supper
This, like brave and self reliant
I
would not have felt so brave if she had
known that the rise in the river had
carried out the bridge, which was why
| her father and mother were not back
i So, when o'clock came, their par
| ents had not yet returned Never
mind, Bert" she said; you go to bed
| and I'll wait a little while longer for
them. They'll be along soon now.
Well be just as well off as if they
! were here
The boy had some misgivings about
| the prospect, but under his sisters
cheerful guidance he was soon hidden
away in the big, high, old fashioned
bed in the loft above. She left a candle
| burning on a little table beside the
bed, and it was not long before he
| was asleep.
Kittie had decided to await her par
ents' return in the room below Pretty
soon it struck 10. Still they did not
come. Outside the wind kept on max
ing sudden angry pounces at the house.
as she thought. The little girl was
alarmed, but she had never. been up
so late before. So, notwithstanding her
fright, she shortly went to sleep in her
chair. When the clock struck II she
| woke up with a start and ran to the
window and looked out No night had
ever seemed SO black to her before, but
| as she pressed her face to the glass,
with her hands to her eyes, she saw
something moving in front of the
house. 1t seemed Impossible, but it
looked like a bush. She unlocked the
door and pulled it open, and in the
light of the lamp which streamed out
she saw that it was a small tree, which
had been uprooted and was floating
past the house in water, which was
already UP over the door step.
For q full minute she stood there,
unable to move, the water rising higher
and higher above the door step. Then a
little wave tapped over the sill and ran
in hurrying rivulets this way and that
on the floor. She pushed the door shut
and locked it, with sudden idea of
keeping the water out. There was an
odd sound tn her feet. She stopped
and looked down. Then she realized
| that 1t was the water tapping against
the floor boards below. She saw it ris-
ing through a crack in one corner.
Her first thought was of Burt. She
ran up the stairs. but he was still asleep
in the big bed. She started to waken
Bert, then she stopped, quickly deciding
| that as all ESCAPE from the house y.-cs
cut off, she might better for the present
| let him sleep. Strange noises began to
be heard. as of something s'craping
! against the side of the house. and as
she ran back down stairs there was a
crash of breaking glass. and she found
that a floating tree had poked the end
Of a dead limb in at one Of the win
dows. As she stepped on the floor the
cold water was half way to her shoe
tops, and some l1indling wood and a
Noah's ark of Bert's were floating
/ about ltke the ark of old
When she had first gone UP stairs she
had been trembling so that she could
scarcely stand, but by this time she
was e9inef. She remembered hearing
that some people who liver farther up
the river had saved many of their
4 things from damage by moving them
up stairs, so she began to do the same.
Selling up anything which she could
carry. -,,-.s .....
I But the rising water did not leave her
| long to work. and as she passed with
the lamp for the last time, half way up
the stairs, a wave dashed against the
windows in the up strea end of the
house. crushing 1t in and bringing the
flood in with such a rush that the cook
ing stove was covered and the table
near by set af1oat, Just then she 9geard
a, frantic cry above her head. and look
ing I'D, saw Bert peertng down at her
with startled ewes
| "Oh, Kittie, what's the matter
Where's mother?" he cried.
'4They haven't come yet" she ex-
planned, trying with all her strength to
be calm. The water has come up round
tlte house-that's all. Well be all right
up here"
She clambered over the pile Of house
hold things at the top. of the stairs and
made him get back upon the bed.
Well be all right up here-you know