The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1898-06-15

lnJO tue DiuCh RduSWdy, luiuh
hear squeaks, Tommy-but 1 dun.
no
"'Yes, it's the rats, Jiml There
look there they're leaving the miner
he screamed. And as he spoke l saw
great furry gray rat pass the breast
like a streak of light, and then two
came by on the jump, aud then
bunch of dozen, more like sperrits
than rats except for their blood-curd.
ling squeals. Something's happened,
Timmy! Save yourselfr 1 shouted,
starting for the gangway, but he flew
past me with single bound, yelling
The pillarsl The pillarsl I've been
robbing them for weeksp
81 used to be pretty good on the
sprint before 1 went to Harrisburg
and got fat, and the way I ran along
that gangway was q caution; but
Lazy Tim went by me like a cannon
ball, and an eighth of mile away he
met car aud a mule standing still,
where the driver-boy had left them
when he heard the rats coming. Tim
tore the traces loose, jumped on the
mules back, aud started for the foot
of the slope, a mile distant, yelling
like lunatic, beating the beast with
his big fists, and kicking her with his
heavy boots, all the while lying flat
over her neck so his head wouldn't
strike the roof. On they went, the
mule tearing through the darkness
with never stumble, splashinR
through sulphur water, leaping over
mudholes and shaking with fear.
Now and then one of her heavy hoofs
would come down soft on q rat
there would be single dying squeal
and the next second her shoes
would strike sparks from the rails.
As for Timmy, his head was giddy
with terror, and he prayed and swore,
as he clung to the mule, his eyes shut
so as not to see the dancing shadows
cast by his lamp, or the sleek rats as
they skipped by him, or the white
moss on the sides of the gangway that
looked like streaks of snow. 80 hard
was he riding. Halfway to the slope
he clattered by the driver-boy, and
then by other miners who were run.
ming for their lives; and before he
knew it the mule came to dead
stop, so sudden that he pitched oven
her head to the ground. He jumped
close to the signal-bar, and by good
luck an empty car was waiting there
He grasped the bar and sounded the
danger signal, and got his answer
from the engine-room far above. Then
he crawled into the car and shut his
eyes as he went whirling up toward
the surface. He tried to think what
he should do and couldn't. All he
knew was that he had robbed the pill
lars near his breast; the rats had
fed; the surface was about to cave in
at that very minute an excursion train
with five hundred children was due to
pass over the spot, and among them
were his wife, and Johnny, and little
Cripple Mary.
"No wonder he was half crazy when
the car reached the surface; but his
faint feeling had gone, and with the
strength of desperation he vaulted to
the ground and raced down the rail.
road track, waving his coat above his
head and yelling with all his voice.
But just as he got in sight of the spot
over his breast there was cracking
sound, and then rush and roar like
a thousand thunderstorms. Trees by
the rail trembled and swayed and
toppled over, as they and great body
Of earth and the tracks for q hundred
yards dashed down into the mine.
''We picked Tim up from the
ground where he had fallen and car
ried him home, and when he opened
his eyes that night Johnny was play.
ing on the floor and little Mary sat in
her basket-c chair holding his hand,
and his wife was cooking supper. The
last section of the train had just got
by and around the curve before the
cavern occurred. And I'm glad to
say that not a man on the surface or
below was killed or even hurt.
"But there's one curious thing I'd
like to ask you about" Colonel Fo.
garty continued, rising from his chair
aud glancing at the hotel clock.
"How do You suppose those mine rats
could know an accident was coming,
long before any of the miners knew it
and they do, every timer"
81 haven't the slightest idea. What
is your belief?"
'Well, mine rats are not witches,
but their ears are so sharp that they
can hear the coal and rock groaning
and grinding and commencing to give
way long before they do cave in, and
long before the sounds reach the ears
OF us humans. That's my theory Of
it,"
"And / guess you're right" 1 said
New York Post.
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