The Sierra citizen., 1854-06-24

therefore, public--heloaging to one man
as much as another. IN
| MIR. Clark hada family, consisting of a
wife, q little son of about thirty months Of
age, and some seventy slaves. Little
Tommy, as matter of course, was great
favorite. A negro girl, about twelve years
of age, was constituted his nurse-his
guardian by day. Hers was the task to
lead little Tommy into the woods and Gull
for him the wild flowers that grew so luxu-
riantly On the borders of the Ozan swamp.
She taught him to build pretty dams
across the little rills that ran through the
meadows, and to construct wheels of corn
stalks and reeds, to Autter in the tiny
waves-all for little Tommy's amuse-
ment. She taught him t, mimic the owl,
the bird of i'll omen, that sought Sane
tuary in the depths of the bottoms, and
often filled the gloomy woods with notes
of sadness and evil foreboding,
One day in the month of April, little
Tommy S nurse came running to the house,
out of breath with exertion and fear, and
proclaimed the astonishing fact that a man
had carried off little Tommy. She said
that they were at play, back OF the new
nronr1 noy& - 4l,o Lo4+o,,, ,,l , ,o,o,s
riding gray mare came galloping, and
sprang t" the ground, seized Tommy, and
dashed into the woods as fast as he could
go. The alarm was great. The father,
mother, servants and neighbors were soon
in pursuit. but they could find no trace of
the fugitive. Search was instituted for
miles around-all Corners and goers were
questioned, but no clue could b. obtained
A night passed, and a day; another, and
another, and still another, but no one
could bring any tidings from little Tom
my. Who could have taken him. or why
would he be carried of. were questions
that every body asked but nobody answer
ed with satisfaction. Many we're the con-
lectures, hut they were vague and founded
on uncertainty. Clark could recollect no
enemy who, for the sake of revenge. would
thus carry eff his child. Some supposed
that Indians had done it. there being
occasionally small parties of them lurking
about the country, but the nurse said that
the thief was white man. Others ven
tured to suggest that the hope of a reward
might have been the inducement Mr..
Clark, it was we'll known, was wealthy
had but this one child. and loved him
with devotion. That he would offer a
reward, was a reasonable conjecture
and that some one, led by the hope Of OBJ
tanning the reward, had carried off the
boy. intending to restore him as soon as the
reward should be offered, was by no means
an improbability. A third theory was
suggested-that. the nurse had become
careless, had perhaps fallen asleep, and
her little charge had wandered alone into
the forest, and even into the bottom, and
had been drowned; and that the tale of a
mans carrying him off was mere fabri-
cation of the nurse to shield herself from
blame. But she always told the same
tale-thrcats could extort no other Ask
her. and under all circumstances she told
the same artless tale. The neighbors,
however, met, and dragged the bottom.
seeking for his body. They found moth
ing but a few lost bells. and after two days
Of Intellectual search the project was aban-
doned, and little Tommy was considered
lost. si
Many months-months ofsadness- roll
cd away. The year grew on apace; the
April buds had expanded and become the
broad foliage Of summer; these, again, had
assumed the golden hue of autumn; nuule-
rous settlers had come in from the older
States; strange faces had been seen in this
and the adjacent neighborhoods, but Mr..
Clark's house was desolate. Little Tom
mys place was vacant; there was his little
armchair; his mother had his tiny green
shoes, and his little checked gown and
apron, all put safely away in the bottom
of her trunk, but his sweet smile and
ruddy cheeks, and faxen hair had disap-
peared, and his hearty laugh was not now
heard in the old hall. The birds of spring
had no melody now for Tonlmy's mother.
Her home was cherries blank-hcr
heart was robbed Of its idol. She used to
say, that if Tommy had died a natural
ay-had fever claimed bis victim-had
he closed his short career at home, and
breathed his last with his little head pill.