Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-01
By Ellis Parker Butler.

as good as crazy, because when, We
got to him he started to run. and ne
ran right into a grapevine tangle ana
began pulling and pushing through ~
although he could have taken Ten
steps and have gone arouna .mt;,or
guess he must have liked ms ia Nm
Swatty went right after him: ne
swore at him in German and tod m. MN
that the way was to go out on Wy
shore where the sand was, SO ne eou,a a
run faster: So Bo ~, ra went anu W"
We didn't say much. Swatty Ke he
telling Bony what kind OF a 1901 no
was for thinking his father was en+
ing to kill himself, and Bony hVPe
sobbing and running. guess maybe
I cried a little, too. ! felt kind or
/ don't Acknowledgements / guess;
So then we got around the bend anu
all at once we saw Bony's fatner. VIC
He was out on the ice. W, i far out
on the ice as two blocks weuia DC;
and he had on his rubber boots anu
his hunting coat, and 1t lookea I pu.5u
around the pockets so me ana owa.,y
knew he had been hunting ana nau
got two rabbits, or maybe three, W.
all guessed that what had happenea
was that when he got sick OF lshttim rs
about bills he went hunting TO- to
get about nen he felt hed that way Vent
down to his tailor shop and se .S
coats or pants, and when my 1athes
felt that way he would go OUT anu anu
split wood or maybe clean out .rs
father thought he'd like to kill some
When we saw him out on the Ice ne
was walking fast, or sort OF running,
going toward tho Iowa shore; put
II
scared us was that the Ice was NOV
We didn't see 1t at first. Bony was
yelling at his father. and his fatheI
heard him and turned and lockeo
back and then started to run toward
ice came close in to the high pank,
and on the Ice there was limb OF a
big tree. Somebody had made nre
under it and it was partly burned
Bony ran up and down the banK LOOK
but swatty was going to slide right
down there and let his feet get on
that old dead limb. But when Bonys
father saw Bony running up ana
down he shouted to him; PonHss
father to see why he was SHOUTING
that. Then he looked down at the old
limb again. 1t had moved along!
Well, you bet he was frightened Tor
q minutel He wasn't thinking OF the
iceI he was thinking Of that dead
start ana move like that isn't nat
ural. He felt the way you feel when
you 60 to pick up stick and 1t IS g
live snake. For minute ne just
stood and held his breath and was
scared and then he saw it wasn't the
dead limb that was moving. but the
ice, and he grabbed my arm ana
pointed And just then the f1re-whis-
tie on the waterworks over In town
began to blow.
That was sure sign the ice was
going out 1t was to let folks know
ice go out. because. you bet. 1t Is
worth SCI cling. You can't tell what the
ice will do when it starts to go out
So then we knew the ice must be
going out faster on the Iowa side
than on our side. What Bony's father
us to keep off the ice. and to get off
it himself: but he did not have to tell
us, because before he got close
enough for US to hear him much the
ice was making such noise we
couldn't get off! The ice began to
pile up against the upper side Of the
bend, shearng itself off and sliding
on top of itself and leaving a big
open space below the bend.
" gil, L Z ucSS DULY SIlcu lHeH! Anu
he had something to cry about that
time. His father came running as
near as he could to us. but it wasn't
very near because the Ice near shore
was cracking up into big pieces. He
ran upstream on the ice. shouting to
us all the time. but the ice was going
downstream, and at last it fioated
down 30 there was an airhole oppo-
site us and he had to STOP l say he
had to stop. but he kept going. be-
cause the Ice carried him ON down the
river. He looked all around. and then
waved his arm at us and started to
run toward the Tow Head
The Tow Head is big island in the
river but nearer Iowa than Illinois,
where we were. The wind was push
Ing the ice over that way, and I guess
he thought maybe he could get off the
Ice on the Tow Head If he-could get
there before the ice carried him by,
Bony's father ran around the air
hole and kept running up and across
and he ran hard; but by that time the
Ice was going pretty fast, so me and
Swatty and Bony got down to the
sand and ran downstream as fast as
we could; we kept even with Bony's
father. He was running upstream
but he was going down STREAM all the
time.
Pretty soon the old race track the
men had made on the ice went by, and
then the end of the wood road went
by. It was funny to think that me
and Bony and Swatty were running
one way and Bony's father the other
way, and that we kept right opposite
each other. But 1t wasn't very fun.