Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1856-10-16

III MS lnuldn Oress o1 sklnS, ana bearing
haunch of venison on his shoulder. He die
not make himsel If known to Harcourt, whom
he remembered as the cause of his heav,
misfortune, but, notwithstanding, gave hin
every attention and assistance in his powe!
and prevailed with his red companions to
send guide with them towards Plymouth
assuring them that they were too badly fro
zen to serve any good purpose if retained
To this proposal the selfish Harcourt
readily acceded, never so much as bringing
one word Of the party they had left, among
whom was the loving Prudence. But Goff
was more considerate, and contrived to find
opportunity of making known to Christie
pher the number and situation of the suf-
!erers left behind. That night Christopher,
who had come to sbe trusted to sleep un-
trammelec, stole away fiom the camp, and
with the haunch of venison on his shoulder.
made his way towards where he supposed
the sufferers to be, and about daybreaK
espied their lights, and to their great Joy
sat down in their midst. The feet of poor
Prudence were so swollen, she could not
stand; but it was not for this she cried and
hid her face when Christopher folded her
frost-b bitten hands in mis-, and kissed them.
She wept not so much for the recreancy Of
Harcourt, as for her own, yet not so much
for that as for the answering faithfulness
and true love of the lost that was found.
They breakfasted together Oh the venison,
but were prevented from setting out towards
Plymouth, by the feebl leness of one of the
party, who near the noontide died. The
ground being frozen, they could only dig
little way in the earth with their hatchets,
and having laid the corpse decently in lis
rude grave, they covered it over with green
firbranches to keep the wolves from it, and
knelt OF the ground in fervent supplcation
for the continued preservation of the rest.
By this time the Governor Of P.ymou tn
had sent men to them with provisions and
the means Of conveyance back to the set
tlement, and at sunrise the following day,
they were gotten into port, and Nj. Free
man, "a godly man of the congregation
there, received them, and entertained them
with sweet hospitality and devout thanks
giving"
Prudence fell ill in consequence of the
exposure and frost, and lay for a long while
in her bed; and when it was known to
Arthur Harcourt to be the opinion of Ter
physician, that if she recovered, it would
most likely be with the loss of one leg, he
almost Immediately took ship for Eng land,
and shortly after married there, never sc
much as having looked upon the face of
Prudence from the day of deserving her in
the wilderness.
When the March ouds began to swell,and
the birds to twitter, that season when the
heart of mai revires as we'll as the teart of
nature, Prudence, pale and quiet, and gentle
hearted now, sat in the old high backed
chair, before bright, companionable fire,
and on the stool at her feet, looking visit
fully at the little hand he dare not .ouch,sat
Christopher Grant, telling the story of his
captivity. His search for the COW had led
him into the struggling edges of the forest,
where he was surprised by party of lurk-
ing Indians, and being unarmed, suffered
himself to be taker without much resist
ance. Having as he said, a secre; wound
that was deeper than his foes could inflict,
he suffered little on account of what should
become of him. and his Indifference being
mis- staken for bravery, he was treated with
greater leniency than he could have hoped,
and finally became quite favorite, especl-
ally to the women, whom he assisted good
deal in their labors For long while. no
opportunity of stealing away occurred. and
when there did, he had not courage to make
the effort, SO sure was he of finding the
heart of Prudence in the keeping of one
with whom he could not in any way compare
himself.
"Never name his name to me-" said Pru-
dence, sand forgive me, as | cannot myself.
God deals righteously, and now that | am
old enough, and wise enough to know your
worth, am made desoate by my taffiiction.
shall never stand up straight anymore,
Christopher"
"Then will hold you up!" he replied,
selzing her hand and pressing it with trem-
ulous eagerness.
Through the pale cheek of Prudence
there ran brighter color than for a long
while it had shown, but nevertheless, (for
when do young women lose all coquetry,)
she made as if she did not hear what her
lover said, and enforced a stronger declara-
tion by the piously deceitful assertion, that
if there were maiden in the land good E.
nough for him, she woulo rejoice to see her
in wedlock. 1t was SO against her con-
science to utter this hollow speech, that
she covered her face with her hand when it
was done, and the tears forced themselves
through her fingers.
Is it strange if Christopher found courage
to put his arm around her waist-to tell her
that he was her bondman: and must al
ways remain so till herself released him by
breaking his heart!
"That will never do, dear Christopher"
she interrupted, trying, not very hard, to
loosen his arm from her waist, and whisper
ed-"Y must let me 60 Dow.''
NO" answered Christopher; "God will
ling, | will never let you 60 till death do
us part.
The sun went calmly down; there was
no angry red in his face now, and calmly
and brightly he arose on the Sabbath fol.
lowing, and Prudence, with almost fearful
happiness beautifying her face, !imped slow
| y sdown the aisle of me meeting house,
leaning On the arm of Christopher, I'd the
banns were published, Deacon Emer Grant
slit ng almost upright the while, and JOY
GUS murmur going through all the congre-
CATION.
A Fremont Triumph in St. Louis.
An election for alderman was recently