Evening star., 1918-09-01
WHEN THE ICE WENT OUT.
Continued from Fourth Page.)

ihoulH OF tHe flrSI SlOuSn. IHc lCo
was rubbcry, but Bony and me ran
across and up the bank and IN
through the woods-you have to,
there-and kept right on as soon as
we came out on the shore:
Bony'S father was getting nearer
and nearer, but the stretch Of water
was getting wider. 1t was too wide
for anybody to. swim, of course.
felt kind of sick. don't know why
Il guess it was because I thought.
that just to see man drown In the
river, and it made me sick. l shouted
to Bony, but he kept on running and
then looked at Bony's father
He was still running. but he had his
hand in the air and he was waving
white handkerchief, and then he put 1t
in his pocket and just ran. Pretty
soon / looked back for Swatty, and
saw him
He wasn't on the shore He-but
that's what Swatty is like. He was IN
n skiff rowing as hard as he could
toward the ice!
Bony and me had run across the
First Slough without thinking Of any
thing but hurrying up, but Swatty.
"Weil if anybody had a boat around
here they would haul it into the
slough where the river. ice wouldn't
sweep 1t away or crush It," So he
Just took a look, and there was a
and padlocked to the tree. 1t looked
as II 1t was there for good and all.
but when Swatty looked at the boat
the chain was Just stapled into the
staple with a piece Of driftwood.
There were no oarlocks, but you can
make thole pin with a piece Of
wood, and that was what Swatty did.
driftwood and he pried the skiff down
to the ice and slid 1t to the river.
and then he jumped In and began
rowing with two pieces OF driftwood
for oars.
I shouted to Bony and he stopped.
and he turned back and ran. Swatty
wasn't trying to keep up with the
ice, he was trying to get to 1t any
way he could, and he was having q
R1sty Ss nros nsrs n ae hen OF tt the ehsr p sns
he had to paddle. thought he'd
never reach the ice.,
Even Bony stopped crying.
Well. swatty get to the lice ICE but Dut ne ne
hugged it with the boat. and Bony
and me had to run again to keep
even with him. Then Bony'a. father
came to the edge Of the Ice and tried
it carefully with his foot. put ~ II %as %S
been scraped off at the bend: So all
he did was to get into the boat. ~
was easy, Then he took one Of the
pieces Of drift wood and helped'swat-
So then everything was all right
and Bony's father wasn't drowned or
hadn't shot himself or anything, SO
Bony began to cry again. 49,.
It took us a long ha1eneod time 20 seI snd Ine a
longer time to walk back to Opposite
the town. It was dark when we got
there and the ice was still going by,
and we knew 1t might be week Pc
fore we could get across the RIVER
again; but all at once we heard rifle
or shotgun across the river, and
then Bony's father fired his, and that
let them know he was all right. SO
then we all worked and bullt Dls
driftwood fire, and when 1t was purn-
ing we walked IN m ffGnI tpan 6acK 6a o aeain:
one, two, three, four. We hoped they
could see there were four OF us ana
that we were all right.
And they did, because right away
somebody shot off a pistolNone' Two,
three, four. That meant they khe"
there were four of US.
Well, it was five days before we
could get across the river again, put
we got our meals at house up on the
bluff and slept in their barn, and 1t
was good enough fun.
When Bony got home his rather
Mother, look at this young hero!
If 1t hadn't been for those boys l
would be dead this minute. Now, stop
crying over him and go and make
him the biggest lemon meringue pie
he ever saw"
So 1 guess Bony felt all right. But
when 1 got home mother said:
"Well, thank goodness you're back!
That child-Mamie Little-has pes
tered the life out Of me ever since you
went away. For mercy's sake, run
over and tell her you're home again."
So I felt pretty foolish, because
Mamie Little Is my girl.
And when Swatty got home his
mother opened the door and reached
out and grabbed him by the collar.
She gave him a shake.
ZACH, du schrecklich kind!" she said
or something like that. She gave him
another shake. II teach you to go off
COW myself"
So she walled him with a strap. So
the next time Bony's father fights
about bills and goes off to kilr himself
Bony can save him himself. Me and
Swatty won't.
Copyright. 1913. by Mcclure syndicate.)
Linguistic Impotence.
xrrrrANr rrouyApD MANN z,, l.,