The Boy with the U. S. Weather Men | Page 3

so deep after all. I'm not particularly anxious to have to swim."
The terrier watched his master, and as soon as the boy started to cross
the wash-out in the road-bed, the dog plunged in. The current swept
him down rapidly, but Rex was a powerful swimmer and the lad had
little fear for him. It took all his own strength to keep him from being
swept off his feet, but the break in the road was not more than six yards
across, and the boy was soon safe on the other side. He whistled shrilly
and a moment or two later, Rex came bounding up and jumped on his
master with clumsy delight. Then, with another cock of his head, as
though to make sure of himself, he took up his position in front of the
lad and trotted ahead.
How it rained! The water had gone down Ross's neck and inside his
shoes, so that they sloshed and gurgled with each step. Little rills of
water trickled coldly down his back and legs. The wind was dropping,
so that the rain drove less in slanting sheets, but it seemed to pelt down
all the more heavily for that. Even in the darkness, Ross could see the
plops, where the drops fell, standing up from the surface of the flooded
water like so many spiny warts. It was lonely, even with Rex for
company, so dark and so wet was the night, and Ross was glad when
the glow of a fire in the distance told him that he was approaching an
encampment, probably, he thought, that of another group of settlers
who had been driven from their flooded houses and were shivering,
homeless, in the night.
When he arrived near enough to take in a full view of the scene,
however, he found it very different from what he expected. True, there
was a large camp-fire burning, such as the one he had left, and around
it were gathered a number of women and children, cold, hungry and
wet. A rough, lean-to tent, made of a sheet of tarpaulin, had been
stretched in order to try to keep off the worst of the downpour, but no
shelter availed.
A few steps farther, on the river bank, was a scene of excitement and

commotion. A large gasoline torch flared into the night, defying the
efforts of the storm to extinguish it, and by the light of this torch, scores
of men were working busily, almost crazily, repairing a cave-in that
threatened every moment to make a new break in the levee.
"Who's that? Another man?" rang out a clear, strong voice, as Ross
came near. "Good! We need men badly, right now."
"It's me, Mr. Levin," answered the boy promptly, as he recognized the
voice, and hurried into the circle of light, "it's me, Ross Planford."
"Howdy, Ross," came the greeting in reply, "all your folks safe?"
"Yes, sir," the boy answered. "It was a narrow shave, though. Rex got
us out just in time."
"Good dog, that," was the terse comment. "I always did like Airedales.
Well, Ross, it's time you got busy. Bring me a pile of empty bags from
Dave's sugar-mill, there."
"Yes, sir," answered the lad, and darted off towards the factory.
Rex followed at his heels, and when, staggering back with his load,
Ross dropped one of the empty bags, the terrier picked it up and came
trotting after, carrying it in his teeth.
"I dropped one, Mr. Levin," said the boy, "I'll go right back for it."
"You don't need to," replied the Weather Forecaster, "your pup
retrieved it for you. See?" and he held up the missing bag.
The engineer in charge of this section of the Mississippi, whose duty it
was to guard the artificial banks or "levees" of the river, was working
on the main break in the levee, with a huge gang of men. In this crisis,
one of the planters, who formerly had been the local Weather Bureau
official, had offered to take charge of the new threatened source of
danger.
At his request, Ross busied himself for some time in bringing empty

bags, which were then filled up with sand and dumped into the cave-in.
Being in bags, the washing action of the water could not carry away the
sand, and the gradually crumbling bank again was made firm. After a
while, however, Ross again felt the dog tugging at his trouser leg and
he realized that the mission on which he had started had been forgotten
in the excitement of mending the crack in the levee.
"That's right, I was forgetting," said Ross aloud, and he appealed to his
friend the Forecaster.
"Mr. Levin," he said, "can you spare me for a bit? I left Father's camp
because