The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-04-13

At last the boy opened his eyes 10 rcliol
10 q ID the board had come 10 = standsilll
Tie remembered that Ia one end Of the lash
ing he had uatd there WAS = hard knot
fbinking this knot hsd Travelled up to the
granny, aud that the latter was tos ~ safe
asa tqaarc hllsh, X cocker begsu to tqpirm
back ~ the plank. But thi. proved an ln'
discreet move, snd almost a fatal one.
The granny bad not been STOPPED by the
bard knot, but merely by a fray,d edge on
the rope. Hardly had the boy made bis
frat move Wh,n this pulltd through, and
the plank gave little lurch downward,
k1cekef was all but overbslat eed, and
saved himself barely by sgaiu clutcbins
the etd Of The plank. II seemed then 40 II
hntck,r hsd ruired his only chance for
lie. The plank slowed down again TO Its
former movement, but IL continued to ,ibk
under the boys's weight,
Below, the parade came to halt, all but
the leaoipg band, which, unconscious Of The
pending catastrophe. went mfchlrg gsily
up lha street.
Allosher eyes were 6 sing q, the helpless
boy. As the plank parsed ih, ,:thirtietblde.
gree and seemed fairly to stand on end,
sone turned away their faces, unable to
watch longer
| Ano: & the iron-workers were men who
had wi 1t s'ed some fearful falls aud terri.
BILE a,ciionts, bat even they were rendered
helpless at the sight OF their youthful
friend Ia such position.
There wss one exception, however. A
big mar, With courage and detern iostlon
showing In hli clear b'ue eye aud fQusre
Jaw, fprang from the raj ks and pushed bis
way i'tly through the crowd A mo-
mont lste. he reached the high board fence
@hlch shut In the Clsypool Bulldog from
the street. With agility that would have
dore credit to sailor, Big Jim scaled the
fence ard disappeared inside tie enclosure.
Mesnwl lie, with each instant kDocker
found his position harder to maintain.
Splinteis Il ON the pine tosrd pierce his
hands cruelty, but the bov tnly set his Jaws
and grlpptd the harder
He knew he hsd one chance left. II the
hard knot came In contact with the granny
before the board reached slidIog position,
he might be saved.
There seemed it'll, hope OF that, how
,ysr, for the plank had already passed the
forty-fith degree. k1ockeIs weight on
the end would have started 1t sliding be-
fore that had 1t not rested Ia slight In
dentation In the pine, caused by the rough
iron on the edge OF the building,
A slight quiver ran through the plank
Under other circumstances Knocker would
not have noticed it. but under the high.
stiurg col dition Of bis nerves he felt 1t
quite distinctly, and grew sick at heart.
The boy closed his ewes.
II was only The hard knot coming In con-
tact with the granny that caused the plank
to qlivtr. An instant later Big i'm srriv.
ed on the spo. Readily his quick eye took
In the situation, and he knew In an instant
what to do to save the boy.
L'ke''one 10 dream Koccker, who had
now gi, en- up all hope and was about to let
90, heart his old friend begin to speak to
him In an everyday tone Of voice-dravlng
bis mild from the danger, cheerily enccur.
sging.
AS he talked the big man was not idle.
He braced himself and was pulling sturdily
down on the lashing. la moment more
he had the plank down aud made IA st In Its
original position,
Then, amid deafenipg cheer from below,
Big Jim walked out and carried the half
conscious Knocker back to safety.
Down on the street the bands began to
play more meriiy than ever, and the dif-
ferent unions fell into line again.
Jim, sail the by, fsintly, I'm making
you miss the parade.
In that moment .Iin ca the look Of aflec-
tion In Rockers eye, and knew the true
cause OF the boy'a desire to enter the un-
ion.
Since you did not fall, am glad II hap.
pened, answered the big man. We will
watch the parade together.
From The different companies pasti1g
along the street below cheer after cheer
rose TO the big iron-woiker and The small
rivet.heater, standing together on the edge
OF the skeleton ironwork Of the Claypool
uutdinn