The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1854-09-21

of the lost child; but, when the mai
reached the borders of Saxony, he fell il
of typhus fever, and died in the hospita
of small town, without having fulfilled
his errand. The child itself was too youn;
to give any information; it only knew tha
it was called Theodore. Theodore's fos.
ter-parents were not originally poor
they once possessed beautiful fields and
meadows; but their cattle had been taker
away, their house had been plundered
the fruits of their fields destroyed, and
their barns contained no provisions fol
the winter. 1t cost them much trouble
to procure few cattle again, and even tc
get daily bread; for, though they would
gladly have sold part of their land in or
der to get some money, they could find
no purchaser in those troublous times
Yet they did not let the little one want
for anything. If they had only single
morsel, they would chcerfully 60 supper
less to bed, rather than that their foster
child should suffer hunger. The little
creature throve fast; and the love that
was bestowed upon him was not wasted :
be soon gave signs of such grateful at
tachment, and was so attentive and obe-
dient, that they were often ready to i'm
agine that the child was really their own
and never for a moment repentcd having
taken it in.
Six years long they had nourished and
protected the stranger child, and tended
it with heartfelt parental love, when they
were both taken off by an epidemic, which
was one of the many sad consequences of
the war. The disease, even in an early
stage of it, deprived the sufferers of their
senses. Theodore, who was only eight
years old, knew not what to do, and cal
led in a poor ncighbor, widow, who, as
no medical man was at hand, did what
she could according to the best of her
knowledge; but she was as little able as
the weeping child, to render efficient aid.
At last physician came, as there were
several other people i'll in the village; but
he saw at once that it was too late to
save them. A few days more, and the
poor boy was standing by the side of two
corpses.
Then followed the funeral, and the
division of the property among the rela-
tioGs of the deceased. One took the
house, another the arabic land, third
the pasture land, fourth the movable
goods, but no one was eager to the or
phan. He had already been thorn in
their eyes; for they were afraid that he
had been adopted by the man and his
wife, and would deprive them of the in
beritance. Fortunately, the good people
had two Bibles-one in their house, the
other in their hearts-and cut of both
they had conscientiously and diligently
their foster child; and in SO do
ing. had boqueathed him treasure, which
formed no part of the property to be di-
vided, and to which the greedy heirs could
make no claim, even had they been dis
posed. Now, in this hour of difficulty,
be recollected the expression, when my
father and my mother forsake me, then
the Lord will take me ur.' Psa. xvii, 10.
This was his staff when about to leave his
present home-the staff of his right hand,
when he was forced to grasp bcggar's
staff with the other.
By this time the war was over; but its
effects were still severely felt by the in
habitans of the country. The cornfelds
we're lying waste; the dwelling houses,
for the greater part, were pillaged OF
burnt; and on all sides the greatest dis
.ress prevailed. For a whole twelve
month Theodore was obliged to wander
about as poor bcggar-boy. He went
from place to place, and sought for shell
ter; but everywhere he was repulsed, for
be could not tell his birth place. Even
the police could not lay hold of him and
and send him back to his parish, for no
one knew where it was situated. Here
and there he met with kind people, who
gave him some broken victuals; but more
frequently he was obliged to content him
self with piece of dry bread His lodg-
ing for the night was commonly hovel
on some hay, or a woodhouse; and, in
winter, perhaps a warm stable, unless be
was allowed to lie on a bench in the
kitchen. His clothes, which soon were worn
to rags, would now and then be replaced
by torn jacket, or patched pair Of
trowsers, big enough for youth of eigh-
teen; so that he looked in them for al!
the world like a scarecrow. The luxury
of an ordinary pair of shoes he bad long
heen stranger to; in summer he went
barefoot; in winter he wrapped his feet in
Did rags, and stuck them in large shoes,
which some charitable people had given
him. Yet be never wanted bread, and,
strictly speaking, did 9Rt suffer hunger;
for it was not easy to Nshhold relief from
such good-looking, cleanly, modest boy.
He took care to wash himself every morn
ing at a spring, and to comb out his long
black hair; he kept his clothes as clean
and as tidy as possible. When he was
taken into house for the night, the first
thing he asked for was a Bible; or, if one
was not at hand, for some good book, in
which he read the whole of the evening,
sometimes aloud, if it were wished. Had