The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1859-04-16
The Konnobeo Captive.
nY nm REy. IonN TopD. D. D.

Gus and great, her mountains lofty and i'm
posing, her sea.eoaat irnn-bound and rough
boldly looking out upon old ocean M he
sweeps along with tides and storms, aud ,ay-
Ing, "Come on, sir and l'll give you hearty
welcome !" heriniand lakes still sleeping in
the wilderness, are large and magnificent, her
valleys are warm and fertile, and her forests
have yielded TO none In the world for the
abundance aud goodness Of their timber.
Even now, her rivers send out salmon and
lumber for the use Of every part Of the ma
tIun. AZ very early period In the history
Of our country settlers began 70 push up her
beautiful riyers aud drop down singly or In
EuHit groups, nv they liked. She WIS Wild
provence Of Massachusetts then, aud her pop
ulalion, graphing with all the hnrdshibs of
the wilderness, and Of her severe climate, was
very sparse. Far up the enchanting Kenne-
bee, at a very early day, were two families
who had omgrnted from the same ncighbor-
hood and who had long been faithful friends.
Old Mr.. Reddcld lived in comfortable, but
no way imposing log house on the banks Of
the river. lie was kind hearted, bgncyo-
lent man, never believing the world 10 be
wicked enough to cheat him, though almost
every week taught him tbs opposite doctrine.
lie laborcd hard, was good husband and
father a a,warm.hearted and humble Christian
and loving all men much, but his God more.
lie honestly earned property, but could new
cr make it stick to his fingers. His wife was
a noble woman, who had relnquishcd bright.
er prospects that she might be happy vi;h a
man Of her choice And she had been hap
py One by one their children had sickcned
IN the wilderness, and they had carried them
to the little opening in the forest which they
had cleared for a buDing.plaee. II was the
FIRST clearing he had made after reaching
their new home, AID the briars and Wild
weeds were not allowed to grow there. AZ
the time my story commences, Mr., Red6eld
had reached the age OF sixty or more. His
remained to thcp, a s,nid, sober, quiet, yet
courageous boy Of about ten year, Of age,
and he went by the plain name Of Daniel
Redhcld.
Somewhat further up the river was a house
Of greater prctcnsions Il was built Of brick
gambrel rooted, aud was surr oundcd by fruit
trees fnd Rurdvns, spacious barns auu out
houses II stood in pleasant valley, under
the shadows Of lony mountain. The vale
had been cleared up and the field Of wheat
and corn, and the rich meadows OF grass,
caused the passcr by to stop and gaze, aud
say, esquire ordwny is well to do IN the
world" The Squire" VAS man who, like
bis neighbor Redfeld, was honest and kind,
but in worldly wisdom he was far his superi-
or. They had both come into the wilderness
poor, but one was rieR and the other still
dwclt under the shadow Of the hill Of wealth
without being able to climb il. Its golden
sands never seemed to roll down near him.
But the esquire" was up early and late, and
the man who sold him a poor article, or a
bad lot of lumber, and salmon not of the
first quality must rise very carly in the morn.
ing To do it, Mr.. Ordway had a large fimi-
ly Of boys. They were not 50 polished, for
they had to rough it from their very infancy.
Mutual dependence and common privatons
teach the pioneers Of the forest to be ready
fer aRy aet-ef kindnrAS- which neighbol
needs and no kinder ncighbors than the
Ordways could be found on the Kennebee
The parents were proud OF their boys, for
none could PROSTATE the forest, get out tim
ber.logs for the mills, hunt the moose, OF
catch the salmon with more skill that they
I but the pet Of the flock was an only daugh
ter, about four years old. She was -,hC
youEgcst and last child, Wild as the forest
flowers about them, and as beautiful too
Little Susan was the idol Of the family. The
! father and mother early discovered that she
was "a remarkable child" and the boys re
ceiyed it as a fact not to be questioned
Hence they gathered flowers in the spring
berries and fruit in the summer, nuts in tn,
autumn, and planned slides and sled-draw,
/ ings on the ice in the winter, for "little Su
san" Hence il is not to be wondered at
that ms she grew up, she found n will of her
own, and that her little foot someti mes came
/ down with decision that was unbending.
| As the two families advanced it was plair
that the Ordways were to increase and spread
and grow wealthy IL was clear that tht
Redfelds never would. Daniel "took tt
books" Not that he disliked work, but h,
yearned for knowledge, so that there was no
a book in the whole region ofwhose contents
we was not a perfect master. Happening
to light upon stray Euclid, the parents
wondered much over the beautiful fgurc
which he drew on the white broh-bark
gathered from the forest. Every pitch-pin,
root which he found was carefully saved t,
give him light for study after -lhe -labors OF
the day. At the age of seventeen the fathe
Of Daniel began to dronp.. 1t was eviden
that, he must die. Like wise man he hat
set his house in order, and the only regrets
which he had on the conviction that he mus
die, were that he left his widow so poorl,
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