Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1847-09-23
THE LOST CHILD.

s w dHueiIHS ilStlesS'y tutouEu ~
mote quarter Of the city Of Philadel-
phia ]-our custom often of an after.
noon our attention was arrested BY
the plaln.ive voice Of little child, ard,
turning a.corner, we came suddenly ups
on group Of women, surrounding
handsome little boy Of two and half
years old, crying between his sobs
IN ANNA, mamma want my man.
NAL" The women around him were
nearly all Irish-the kindest creatures in
the world TO children-and were over
whelming the poor frightened child
with anxious questions where he lived,
and what his name, backed up by the
inevitable promises of candy and sugar
in unlimited quantities. So earnest
were they to restore The child 10 its
home, that they all talked at once, and
kept speaking louder and louder every
minute. The little truant, half fright
ened out ofits tender wits at the strange
voices and violent gesticulations of his
would be friends, began screaming in
terror, which threatened commissions;
whilst the good women, in puzzled
agony and motherly despair, ran hith-
er and thi,her, chattering and throwing
their arms about like company Of
dealers in the "fancies' during great
"fall." The occasion was urgent, and
we decided to bring our little hero out
of the scra2e by an audacious move
ment worthy of Gen. Pillow himself.
So,advancing resolutely into the crowd,
we took the child by the hand, exclam-
ing
''Why, Charley, here you are at
last! ,,Come alang4l dear-mamma is
waiting for you.
Il We hurriedly thanked the good wo-
men for taking csae Of the dear little
boy; and.taking the ex-tempore /" Char
ley" by NJ hand, hurried away, fol-
lowed bya troop of genuine Irish bles-
sings.
The child had ceased crying, allho'
his round white bosom still heavec
with silent sobs, like littlesea subsi
ding after storm. He looked up
now and then into our face with such a
trusttul, con6ding, happy glance of
expectation, that our heart sank at
what we bad done. But it was no time
toretreat.
:. "Why, Charley" We said, in as.
careless tone as we could assume,
chow came you 10 60 SO far from man.
MAJ"
81 buy candy" said he, holding up
his chubby left hand with bright ftp
in it. "My name not Charley, tho"
and the little rogue laughed at catch
ing us in a blunder. This, we felt,
was the time. if ever, to ascertain what
uas his name.
"Well, know it isn't; but now see
if you can tell me what it is" We
stopped and looked earnestly into his
beautiful blue eyes.
The child seemed suddenly TO feel
that he must make an exertion, and
hesitated moment as if to collect him
self. A member of Congress could
not have done it better.
edward ~" said the little
fellow, at length, pronouncing each
syllable slowly, and without a shadow
of his childish imperfectness of accent.
With feeling of relief, we stepped in
to shop, looked at the Directory, ard
found, fortunately, but three names like
that Of our charge. One was bar
Der, another seamstress, and the
third a wholesale merchant. We
scrutinized the somewhat elegant
dress of the boy, and gazed carefully
at his face. 1t was too happy for the
child Of seamstress, and the embroi-
derry about the hem of his fine linen
frock was evidently not Of home man.
ufacture. On the other hand, had he
been the barber's son, his golden silky
hair would have been plastered down
with bears oil. Our mind was made
up, and we proceeded confidently
10 the house of Mr.. n in the
upper part of Walnut street. We
found the place in confusion-servants
running about in alarm, & lady in her
morning gown, and her sweet face half
hidden BY veil Of shining hair, falling
in disheveIled masses ofgold and brown
over her beautiful shoulders came run
ming instantly to the door. The ques-
ton was solyed-the child sprang to
his mothers arms with cry ofdelight;
and, clasped passiona'e'y to her bosom,
he nestled there like young rosebud
beneath the parent leaves.
But we don't believe that either of
them was as happy as the readers
humble servant. PHILADELPHIA North
american.