The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-18

collected stone with a good deal of en-
ergy. While they were hard at work
Jim came driving back from the sta
ton.
why don't you use a stoneboat for
that?" said he.
"Oh, the very thing" said both boys
at once, and in a. few minutes good ma
tured Jim had harnessed Jack to the
stoneboat and was helping the boys
load it.
The boat loaded, they all went down
to the ruins of the dam. 1t had orig
inally been about ten feet high and
twenty feet broad, and the only break
in it was just in the middle, a break
about six feet wide, through which the
brook chartered noisily.
The boys looked at it for minute,
and then Frank said, in his dry way:
"I think that it would please papa If
we got that old ice house door and
laid it across the dam so that the water
couldn't carry the stones away, for he
may want to use them for something
else later"
Ralph giggled and walked through
the brook with his shoes on just to
see whether it was warm enough for
swimming. Mamma didn'a say any,
thing about wetting our feet this time,
did she?" said he.
brothers example. When their shoes
were nice and soaked they went with
Jim up to the ice house to look at the
door.
Just the very thing" said Frank
and Jim helped them put 1t on the
wheelbarrow, and then he trundled it
down to the stream. When 1t was
placed across the brook it was found
| to fit as if it had been made for its
position.
| The little brook came running down
| and when it found this obstruction it
| tried to creep under, but it was too
| large to do it successfully, and so it
began to spread out little, and in
| few minutes it had grown in depth
| from three inches to a foot.
1--WE need sods to hold the door In
place." said Frank, and willing Jim was
soon cutting sods from the banks of
| the brook and heaving them against
| the base of the door, This kept the
| little brook in place even better than
| the door had done, and it began to rise
and look around for a means of es-
cape. Brooks do not like to stay still.
They are very American in their dispo-
sitions, and they long to be on the move
all the time, and while this little brook
did not mind the boys, still it was I'M
! able to chatter when standing still, and
| so it crept up inch by inch in order to
| get to the top of the door or to find
some other outlet and begin again its
| journey and its conversations.
The boys now began to hurl the
stones with good effect, one at a time;
into the bed of the brook close against
the door, and when the last stone was
| in place Master Brook was a prisoner
indeed. He wept little tears that trick
| led through on the other side but they
did not amount to much. and he soon
saw that there was nothing for him to
do but spread out until he came to an
easy descent.
The boys went back to get more
stones and the little brook grew wider
and wider and deeper and deeper until
| at last Jim, who had left them and
was at work in the stable yard, called
out:
Say, your tennis cot is all under
| water!"
With whoops of delight the boys left
the corn field and came rushing down
to see for themselves. 1t was, indeed,
| true. The court was set on slant,
and the brook had crept up and had
| once more become a lake with no cost
to Mr.. Cartwright beyond the dollar
| that he would owe the boys for piling
| up the stones.
1t did not take them long to finish
| collecting stones, and then, feeling hot
| and dusty, they went into the house
and were really thoughtful enough to
| put on bathing suits. Then they spirit
| ed down the lawn and plunged into the
| pond from the edge of the tennis court.
! oh, how cool and pleasant the water
was, and how extra nice it did seem
| to be swimming around where they
walked ordinarily. They ducked and
| dove and splashed water and f1oated
and did everything that any one ever
did at the swimming pool, and the
thought that this pond was their own
handiwork added a thousand-fold to
| their satisfaction.
While they were at play Jim put the
| wooden boat on the stoneboat and
| brought it down to the pond and SHOW
ed it into the water. 1t sprung a thous-
| and leaks at once and went to the bot
tom. but after It had soaked for an
hour or two the boys hauled it up to
the shore and bailed it out, and then
they found it was willing to float. At
| ter that they spent half the time row.
ing and half the time swimming, and
when Mr.. and Mrs. Cartwright came
home in the afternoon. having been
| driven up from the station in the de-
pot hack, they found the boys swim
ming over the net line of the tennis
| court.
Amusement, anger and amusement
went thirds on Mr.. and Mrs Cart
wrights faces. and then anger got the
uppermost, and Mr.. Cartwright said:
| How dare you go swimming?"
you said we might if the water
| came up to the tennis court" said
Frank.
Mr.. Cartwright had to admit that he
had said so. and when he found that
the stones were all cleared out of the
north lot and that the boys had come
to no harm with their boating and
swimming. he called in a mason next
day and the water was all drained Off
and a permanent dam put there, and
now the boys can go swimming when
ever they like.
And we didn't discbey. did we
father?" said Frank.
mo, you kept the letter of the law"
FOx's Revenge.