Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1840-04-14

uing The cruise, was set ashore m the csi
ladies By q crew IN open mu' my. NV prop
eriy was all on board, and | WAS leh q ieeear.
] had Que child. = daughter, whose moihcr died
- giving Der birth.
Having lo0 a sufficient sum for her eiuca-
iion In the hands of a brother of my own. I'M
whose roofshc hal passed tho first wears
at hsy hfc, I determined 10 retrieve my for
before she or my friends should bc made
acquainted with nv disaster.
Ten ys.rs passed over and ! was iila
"9n0- fer and a bcggar.
u determined 10 sec my child and came
back. Ike ono from the dead, TO my brother
door. lie hal forgotten me, and abused his
rust. Nv daughter, the seventeen, aud such
as Won sec her here was the drudge ia ilie lam
ily Of a siraagcr-ignorani and iriendless-
Nv heart turned against mankind with this
las, drop m a bitter cup, and untitled ior quiet
life. | looked round for some channel OF des-
pera,c adventure. But my daughter was tho
perpetual obstacle. What 10 do with berl
She had neither the manners nor Vie education
Of a lady, aud TO leave her a servant, was im-
possible. started with her for the West,
with the vague design of joining some Tribe
Of Indians. and chance and want have thrown
M into the only mode Of life Oh earth that
could now be palaiable to me-"
"ls it not lonely ! asked" after your stir
ring advcnlures!"
=" Lonely, II you knew the delight with
which ! live in ihe wilderness, with a circle
OF igo 10 shut out the world! The labour IS
hard, 1t is true, but need 1t, 10 sleep and for
get. There is no way else in which | could
! secludo nv daughter. Till lately, she has
been rentcnted loo. We live a month togeth-
er in one place-ihe centre like this ola bur
ming wood. ! can bear hardship, but love
a high cmperaturc-the climate OF the trop-
les and / have il here. For weeks ! for
get that il is winter, tending my fires and Nv
Ing on the game | have stored up. There Is
a hollow or \ brook-a bed or "A cave, III every
wool, where the cool air, as here, SINKS 10
the bottom, and there ! can put up my shaniy,
secure fium all intrusion-but such as ! bring
upon myself"
The look he gave 10 the uprooied ash and
the sleeper beneath it, made an apology for
this last clause unnecessary. lie thought not
of me.
"Some months continued the Picker and
Pller, in a voice husky with suppressed feel
ing" | met the villain who sleeps yonder, ac-
cidcn,elly, as | met YOU. lie is the owner of
this land. After engaging TO clear and burn
it, | invited him, as ! did yourself, from a mo-
mcntary fever for company which sometimes
comes over the solitary 10 90 with me TO the
fallow | was clearing. He loitered in the
ncighbonrhood awhile. under preteXt OF hun
ting, and twice on my return from the village,
found that my daughter had seen him.
Time has betrayed the wrong he inflicted on
me.
The voice of the agitated father sank almost
TO a whisper as he pronounced the last few
words, and, rising from the rock on which we
| N-crp Sifttpu ha naraI fnr a tovy mInutaz IN
and down the platform in silence.
The reader must fill up from his own mag
~ination the drama of which this is but the out
line, for the Picker and Piler was not a man
tn he nnesiinned and ! ran tell Int what ]
he seemed but recapiiulating the prominent
event for his own self-converse, rather thar
attempting to tell a tale to me, and it was
hurried over as brokenly and briefly as 1 hav,
put II down. | sat IN a listening attitude af
ter ne c0nclure1, but he seemed to have un
burtheued his bosom sufficiently, and bis lip
were closed with stern compression.
"Ion forget" he sal /, after pacing awhile
that offered you a place TO sleep Tic nigh
wears late. Stretch yourself on that straw
with your cloak over you. Good night"
! lay down and looked up at the smoke roll
ing heavily into the sky till | slept.
awoke, feeling chilled, for the rock shell
tered me from the rays of the fire. | steppe,
oui from the hollow. The fires were pale will
Tie gray OF The morning, and the sky was yisibl,
through The smoke. ! looked around for
place to warm myself The hickory log ha,
smouldeted out, bui a fire had been kindled ON
Ter tie overblown pine, and its pitchy hear
was now flowing with the steady brilliancy O
a torch. ltOok up one offs broken branches
'raokcd 1t on my knee, and stirring up the coal
oclp%, soon seat up a merry blaze, which en-
yeiupcd the whole trunk.
. Turning INV back 10 the Increasing heat
started; for, creeping towards me, With a lool
pt ea2crness for which | was al a loss 10 &C
count came the Picker and Pier.
Twice docmed,' he mut,ered between hi
E teeth" but no, by mel
5 lie threw down a handful oipitch pine knots
; i'lt his axe against a burning tree. aud wit
+. branch OF hemlock, swept of the lame trcr
he spot where the fire was eating through, a
L io see how nearly il was divided.
: ] began to think him ms me, for | could nf
no answer 10 nav questions, and when he spoke
Z was halt audible, aud with has ewes turne
IRON me hNedfy. l looked IA the same diuc
! lion. but could see nothing rcmsrkable. Tn
ssduCer slept sonndly beneath his matted wal
AID the rude door OF the shanty was behind a,
Leaving him 10 see phlu,oms in the air. as
J thought, ! turned my eyes to the drips Of th
waterfall, and was absorbed in memories 4
my own, when saw the girl steal from IN
. shaniy, sld with one bound o~verleap the rock
barrier Of the platform. llaid my hand on IA
shoulder OF my host, and pointed after her. a
wsa s,ealthy pace looking, back occasional
10 the hot, where she evident v thought he
= father slept, she creFi round towards her love,
c III dies cried the Infatuated man; bu, a
he jumped from me to seize his axe. the on
c eroUched cu, of sight. and my frs, ,houpl
= WAS u awake the sleeper. made two ho,nJ