New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-06-05

And every dewy, wand'ring breeze
VIII softly whisper through the trees,
Mourn not the early dead; :.
There footsteps fall where storms are DER,
Where sin and death are felt no more,
And tears are never shedf
-. -ExHH-
THE BOY AND THE PANTHER
SAan 1Arstrrn setne.
It was a fine morning in August, when little
Samuel Eaton, about seven years old, was ma
king dam in the brook that ran before his
fathers door. He was an only and beautiful
child, and his mother almost idolized him.
There he was, with his trowsers tucked up above
his knees, working like beaver, his mothers
eye cleaning out from beneath his sunburnt
hair, and with some of his fathers strength,
tugging at large. stone in the bed of the
stream.
ssSamuel, you had better come in, hadn't
you:" said Hannah, in a tone Of half mother
and half mate.
"No, guess not" said Samuel.
An acorn came floating down the stream
The boy took it up, looked at it, was pleased,
and " reckoned % in his mind that there were
more up the gully" and when his mothers
back was turned, off he started for the acorns.
The gorge of the mountain, into which he was
about to enter, had been formed (the work of
centuries) by the attrition of the stream he had
bordered each side of the water, he boldly en-
tered the ravine. An almost perpendicular
wall or bank ascended on each side to the height
Of a hundred feet, composed Of rocks and crags,
fretted by decay and storm into fantastic shapes
and positions. A few scattered bushes and
trees sought nourishment from the earth that
had fallen from the level above, and excepting
their assistance, and the unseen surface Of the
rock, this natural part seemed inaccessible but
%n BJrsfIn nvrI han - u. Il.
from the entrance q cataract closed the gorge,
throwing up its white veil of mist in seeming
guardianship Of the spirit waters. The verdant
boughs hanging over the bank cast deep
gloom upon the bed below, while SO lofty was
the distance, they seemed to grow up to the sky
Blue patches-of water were to be seen peeping
between them.
Hannah soon missed her boy, but as he had
often wandered to the fields where his father
was at work, she concluded he must be there, and
checked coming fears with the hope that he would
neither Josiah nor any Of his men knew where
he was. Then the agitated mother exclaimed,
&c He's lost! he's lost! and my poor boy will
starve in the woods!"
Gathering courage, she hastily summoned
the family around her, and dispatched them all
but her husband, to search in different direc-
tions in the neighboring forest. To her hus-
band she said
''Scour every field you call your own, and if
you can't find him, join me in the gorge
A. He wouldn't go in the gorge, Hannah
.'He would go anywhere
She knew not why, but presentiment that
her boy had followed the course of the stream
dwelt strongly upon her mind
az can't find him, Hannah said the husband,
as he Joined her at the mouth of the gorge.
An eagle flew past the mother as she entered
the ravine. She thought to herself, the dreadful
birds are tearing my child to pieces and fran
ravine echo back with her screams for her off
spring.
The only answer was the eternal thunder of
the cataract, as if in mockery of her woe, as it
threw its cold spray upon her hot and throbbing
temples.
She strained her eyes along the dizzy height,
that peered through the mist, till she could no
longer see, and her eyes filled with tears.
Who but mother can tell the feelings of a
mothers heart Fear came thick and fast upon
the reeling brain of Hannah.
"Oh, my boy-my brave boy will die" and
wringing her hands in agony, she sunk at her
husbands feet.
The pain Of &c hope Deferred had strained
her heart strings to the utmost tension, and it
seemed as if the rude hand of despair had broken
them all.
The terrified husband threw water upon her
pale face, and stroye by all the arts he knew to
win her back to life. At last she opened her
languid eyes, stared wildly around, and rose
trembling to her feet. As she stood like heart
broken Niobe, 'sall tears" fragment of rock
came tumbling down the opposite bank. She
looked up. She was herself again; fo- half up
the ascent stood her own dear boy
But even while the glad cry was issuing from
her lips, it turned into a note of horror.
"Oh, mercy-mercy
The crag on which the boy stood projected
from the rock in such way as to hang about
twelve feet over the bank. Right below one of
the edges of this crag, partly concealed among
some bushes, crouched panther. The bold
and the presence of his dangerous enemy at
about the same time.
He had rolled down the stone in exultation, to
convince his parents of the high station he had
attained, and he now stood with another in his
hand, drawing it back, and looking at them as
if to ask whether he should throw it ut the ter
rible animal before him. Till then the mother
seemed immovable in her suspense; but con-
scious Of the danger of her son, if he irritated
the beast, she rushed some distance up the rock,
and motioned with her hand that he should not
throw. Yet, with the fearless mind of childhood
and temper little used to control, he fearlessly
threw the fragment with all his might at the
ferocious animal. 1t struck one of his feet He
gave sudden growl, lashed his tail with fury,
and seemed about to spring.
sect your rifle, Josiah!"
The poor man stirred not. His glazed eye
was fixed with a look of death upon the panther,
and he esappeared paralyzed with fear. His wife
leaped from the stand, and placing her hands
upon her husbands shoulder, looked in his face
and said,
''Are you man, Josiah Eaton? Do you
love your child'"
He started as if from sleep, and ran with fu-
rious haste from the ravine.
Again the mother looked towards her son.
He had fallen upon his knees, and was whisper
ing the little prayers she had taught him, not in
cowardly fear, but thought came across his
mind that he must die The distracted mother
could keep still no longer. She rushed up the
steep ascent with the energy of despair, reckless
of danger, thinking only Of her son. The rocks
crumbled and slipped beneath her feet, yet she
fell not; On, on she struggled in her agony.
The ferocious creature paused a moment when
he heard the wretched mother approach. True
to his nature, he sprang at the boy. He barely
touched the crag and fell backward, as Hannah
assembled the opposite side.
"Ah!" said she, laughing deliriously, sc the