Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-01-02
THE LOST CHILD.

THE LOST CHILD.
A correspondent Of tie St. Louis Weekly
Gazette gives the following account Of IA hunt
for a lost child, in one Of the thlnly peoplcd
ncighborhoods Of the West.
About ten o'clock in the morning, was
heard a loud shoutat the gatc--"Ho! Mr., w.
ho!-" whats waning {" 'O'Larry's
boy is lost-littlo Johnny This was &
nough to secure a fathers aid; and on he rode
to shout the same at every door he passed.
Little Johnny! said /. and my heart burst
forth at the very sound. He was a fair and
lovely child, little Johnny, and had a gentle
ailectlonato mother, with an ardent, and sac
riiicing love which few mothers ever feel
His father was a bold huntCr-hl5 horses and
hounds and rifle, had more Of his heart than
all the world besides; but little Johnny nes-
tied there; indeed he was a great pct with the
nelghDOrs, and won more c]aresses and more
sympathy than all the rest Of the children to-
gether. Such appeals are always sogereign;
but few, perhaps, have ever met with a more
quick or general response-everybody turned
out--the news flew like lightning; and men
and boys for ten miles around came IN to as
sist III the search, while women and children
were running to and fro, and hliling every
plsser by, to learn the progress Of the work.
Never before, l may dare to say, was there
such a neighborly union as new pervaded
this molly mass-the same gush Of sympa-
thy, the same fearful apprehension, and the
same images of death and wo, pervaded eve
~ home and heart. 1t seemed as if one vast
cloud Of gloom enwrappel the region round,
from which shone out in lurid glare, and to
which every eye was turned and every pulse
beat true-the lost child!
Little Johnny was about four years old; he
had been out in the field, with his father and
the black man. who were harvesting Corn
had filed his little bag with roasting ears,
aud started for home about two o'clock p. NJ.
On returning at night, they ascertained that
the child had never been seen. 1t was near
ly da,k, but the alarm was given, and some
fifteen or twenty ~neighbors took their horns
and commenced the search. The corn, where
he was last seen, was the first obicct,of course
here they took single rows, and secured the
field in vain. They then scattered through
the adjoining wood; the father frantic often
called out in a voice Of thunder, fla! John
-ho!--O, John!'' Then fearing the boy
might be alarmed and afraid to answer he
would soften down into the gentle, winning
tone Of the fireside-'Jo hnny, Johnny my
dear, fathers come" 1t was a cloudy eve
ming; and though pcrhaPs,he had never how
cd the knee "belore Jehovah's awful throne,'
he %prayed--O how earnestly he prayed the
Lord it might not rain that night. The air
was damp and chilly, SO that, if the child
Were alive, with his bare feet and light iack-
Ct, he must be suffering cruelty from cold.-
But the wolyes!--ah, this was the fear. this
the terror, which all f~ell,none dared to breathe.
A vol had been seen prowling around the
premises-indeed, they had a common path
across the prairic,-and the point where sew
eral beside myself,had heard the cries Of dis
tress, was a famous haunt f. them; even in
the midst Of their anxious search, a distan.
growl would now and then burst on the ear,
picturing forth the den, the cubs, tha--.
The dogs We're very eager in the field, es-
pecially wolf dogs. Ninder, one of the best
would run no other trail. O'Larry knew this
AMI watched with most intense anxiety, his
every move. lie scents--he scents--he runs
oh my God, he's got my boy. He leaps
from his horse, he sees the footprint Of his
own dear Johnny in the gopher hill by his
side-he tracks him to the wood, and Oh from
Ninder's trail,-ah, now he breathes again.
The search was continued till midnight,
when a part thought it best to relieve their
horses, and wait for daylight to begin alreSh.
but me IiiiCT, Win three OF his hunting
friends, who had resolved not to eat or sleep
till they had found the boy, still kept OH
sometimes riding, sometimes walking-cal-
ling and shouting, if for no other purpose
than to keep the wolves at bay. At length,
they stationed themselves within hearingd dis
lance ofeach other, aud set down to protect
the child, or rush to his rescue, in case they
should hear him aitacked,to watch until NOR
ming.
At early dawn, about fifty new horsemen
arrived, and the search commenced anew
The field was examined for the track, which
was pursued with some doubt, as he had
there three successive days. On ira
cling the path which led towards the wolf
woods, the impriuts of Johnny's little feet
were again discovered, as he appeared to be
running, and the mark of his bag dragging
along by his side. Here the fathers anguish !
anew, as the fears of the preceding
night were justified and corr oborated. They
now agreed TO take a station of about fifteen
rods abreast, go up one side of the branch g. |
DOWN tho other, till the whole surface of an
extensive area (farther than he could possibly
nave travelled,) hadlbeen explored. They