Arkansas intelligencer., 1849-09-15

| Little Job grew every week. and there were no
wicked boys TO Corrupt his heart teach him ill
manners. He was lovely Ind Interesting child.
Like many other children, he born with q
mark upon him, but that did not in the least his
| beauty. This mark was upon his neck. and some
what resembled ripe strawberry. How il came
there is not our purpose TO discuss.
Little Joby, as his fond parents called him was
six years old, but he was the first and las. BORN
This young couple were blessed with no more
children, and consequently, Joby was the idol of
| their hearts. He often went into the field with
his father and played about while the father was en-
| gagged in his daily work. The summer Joby was
six years Of age his father made opening upon
side hill some distance from his house. and Sc
parated from his cleared lands by small path of
the original forest. One pleasant morning in
June, the little boy accompanied his father 10 this
opening, bur getting tired before noon, he started
for home. When the father reached his humble
cottage at noon, he looked anxiousy round for
the beloved one of his heart, but his eye fell not
on him. The young mother not her
company his father, and was alarmed in some
degree. yet she supposed he would be coming
into the house, but he came not.
Where's Joby E? anxiousIy inquired the father
gazing about the room.
Il have not seen him since he went cut with you
n the morning 7 she replied.
Not seen himp he repeated in voice of
trembling. He left me two hours ago to come
home =
Hes lost in the wood T. exclaimed the frantic
mother. We must hunt for him immediate!y!'
And most ansI0usly did they hunt for their lost
boy until the curtains of night shrouded the forest
in darkness and gIoom-but not a trace of him
could they find. Hours after dark the wood
echoed with the voices of the young parents call.
ing for their child, but echoes were their only an
swers most unhappy and sleepless night did
they pass. Early dawn found them again roam
I'M bn fnrp<t Il l.
cess. thousand coniectures distracted their
minds. Sometimes they thoughts ravenous bear,
or some other wild beast, had destroyed their
child again they would imagine he had ra yed
| away, crawled into some hole and there died.
For more than week did these frantic parents
explore every part OF the forest within several
miles about their habiIaton, The hope of finding
some trace of their lost child, bit no discoveries
could they make. A month passed and no tidings
could they learn. Ill was darkness and mystery.
year passed, but nothing could they hear of
their lost child. All hope had fed, and they tried
to become reconced IL their fate, still they could
never forget their darling boy. 1t was Il severe
q Fiction 10 the young mother. Had the boy died
in her presence and under her soothing care, she
could have borne his loss with less trouble and
/ grief; but nowi uncertainty as 10 the fate of her
child pressed heavily upon her heart. Even aIer
4 the eiapse Of year. she occasionally searched
the surrounding wood hoping she might find some
relic OF hin, bat not trace could she discover.
The father did not give up Searching. but often
made the circuit of The forest. Alas a da Ring
| boy had strangely disappear red, and could not be
/ found. If he had been destroyed by some wild
beasts of the forest, it seemed to him that he
might find some remnant of his clothes.
Various were the conjectures as TO the fate of
the lost child but none Of them satisfactory
Year after year passed away the forest fell be-
fore the woodman's axe, and fruitful fields sprung
]
had neighbors. Settlers had not only cleared ",
farms around him, but had pushed far beyond
them. He continued the cultivation of his farm,
and became independent in his circumstances.
| a quarter of century had passed, and no W
the country was changed. Miles and miles be-
yond Bascoms fruitful fields, green pastures and
handsome dwellings were everywhere 10 be seen
scattered along much travelled road. The face
Of nature entirely changed far as the forest
was concerned True, the brooks, rivers, takes,
hills and valleys remained, but great portion of
the noble forest gone. Some of the original
growth still stood upon Job Bascom's farm, and
the same beautiful rivulet meandered through his
green meadows. Instead of log cabin and n
hovel to shelter a single COW and horse, he now
had large frame house, well finished and painted,
three spacious barns and some small out buildings.
He was The wealthy man in the town. He had
chosen a good spot, and managed The farm with
skill and prudence. Although he was but fifty
years of age, yet he the frs. settler of the
town, and was locked upon as an old man by his
younger neghbors. Reoderj look az hin and his
wife, when they first entered the forest, and then
see what they after the lapse of twenty-five
years. Let II be borne in mind that story
commenced just al the close of the Indian Wars,
which tried ne souts of many of first settlers
Of New England, war in which many women
and children, as well as brave men, fell victims TO
savage cruelty. Job Bascom, nor his wife had
not forgotten their lost son. His image was fresh
in their memories. They were childless,
and had no heir to whom they could leave their
large and well earned estate. The loss Of that
boy still pressed heavily upon their hearts. Of
ten did the mother dream of him, and the father
could not forge, him. He still the subject Of
frequent conversation, and their tears plainly told
how deeply they deplored his loss.
One summers morning, twenty FIVE years after
the loss of their boy, they were sitting at the
breakfast-table, and speaking of him, when an
Indian woman, apparently twenty-years of age
entered the house and offered some beadwork for
sale. She quite handsome and exceedingly
modest ia her manners. Farmer Job, as he was
then called. bought few of her articles and gave
her some provisions in exchange, and his wife
made her eat some breakfast. They were anch