Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1912-05-09

u1Aiou wien JtEtHuau nTSlcTTSN nut
meg But he ate what he could OF
the Zeal and said nothing. then went
out TO the porch to smoke his pipe,
and SO he fell to thinking about Eva.
his wife, and 10 wonder II she missed
him as he missed her and to think OF
the happy days before they had dis,
agreed
1t was a sultry night. and the morn
Ing was thuudCrous and Questioning.
The cattle hung about the gate 10 the
pasture and refused to eat, Even the
chickens seemed to feel some lmpeud.
ing calamity In the air. for they hud.
died In corners, and some OF them
went to roost as the day grew darker.
jeremiah went in and out OF the
house several times, and each time he
passed through the hall he noticed
that Mrs Bentley was neglcctipg the
homework to attend to the safety of
her own effects. Once when she was
struggling down the stairs with u
huge feather bed in her arms he came
TO her assistance and carried the bur
den down to the cellar and from there
TO that deep suhccllar which had been
prepared for cases OF emergency.
The cyclone cellar was n small apart,
ment, cemeuted all over. and now II
was crowded with the possessions OF
jeremiah Buttcrtield's houSckceper.
Her feather bed was the crowning
cminence of small mountain of
HI "a. H. I~I.
4 birdcage with It's little occupant
hopping cheerily within stood ON a
chair. together with young rubber
plant which Mrs, Bentley was coax
ing to maturity. A lantern hung from
a hook in one corner.
You going to come down here be
fore dinner?" asked Jeremiah in mat.
ter of fact way.
"It'll be time enough when the cy.
clone strikes" said the widow coura-
geously. II hope you'll have sense
enough to let the cattle take care of
themselves and come down here. too"
Il got to look out for my stock" said
jeremiah stolidly.
Once or twice he looked at the ba,
rometer and saw that 1t was rising
rapidly. Then the wind came, light at
first and steadily increasing in velocity
until it might have registered ten
miles an hour. Matters looked serious
enough, Mrs. Bentley had retired to
the cyclone cellar and pulled the trap.
door down after her.
jeremiah stood outside watching for
the funnel shaped cloud that must
come out of the northwest IL they We're
really going to have n cyclone. He had
housed all his horses and cattle and
hoped that the path of destruction
might not be laid In line of his house
and barns. His standing crops he ex-
pected to lose and was resigned.
A Gathering whir overhead brought
his gaze to the revolving blades OF the
tall windmill back of his barn. He
had meant to lock the blades so that
the approaching storm would meet
with resistance there. His water
tanks were overlooking now and the
mill must not be permitted TO run any
longer. There was only one thing to
do. jeremiah fastened to the room
under the tower and moved the lever
that locked the blades of the big cir
cular fan. But something was the mat
ter. and he went outside and looked.
One of the blades had broken loose
and In falling had SO jammed the lever
bar that there was nothing to control
the big fan unless one released the
broken blade and so give the lever an
opportunity to do its duty
In trice jeremiah was climbing up
the narrow iron ladder that led to the
platform under the whirring fan. For
the moment he had forgotten the com
ing storm. nor had he seen the funnel
shaped cloud whirling down upon him
Just as he reached the platform the
wind hurled Itself upon the structure
Something snapped In the deafening
disturbance that followed. jeremiah
knew that 1t WAS part Of the windmill
and that he was also clinging to 1t by
main strength as they We're sucked into
the center of the circular windstorm
aud borne along ut n velocity Of forty
miles an nOur. me atmosphere was
filed with debris Of every sort, Jere-
miah was conscious that his house kept
pace with him for awhile ms he was
swept along on the platform, much az
was the Arabian prince who I'm days Of
old Travelled through space on n magic
carpet.
Something large and dark sent him n
stunning blow just As he was sent to
the outer edge Of the low travelling
storm center, and so 1t happened that
he fell to earth on n great mound OF
soft hay. What became OF the plat
form he never knew. When he recov-
cred consciousness his wife. Eva. was
bending owe: him and crying because
she thought he was dead.
where am ~ demanded jeremiah.
sitting up and looking around at the
cloudless sky and then down at the
haystack on which he sat. When he
ga Nv his wife he really thought he had
died aud gone to heaven.