Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1861-03-23


of my misery.
1t was on this evening that younger
brother, who had been away coublc of
weeks on journey up the country retufn-
cd with Bruno, who had been his sole trav-
cling companion. The sight of the dog,
whose sagacity had long been the wonder
of all who knew him, excited faint hope |
in my breast that he might yet find his
youg mistress, either living or dead and
with this idea uppermost in my mind, half
insane, as I was, talked to him of the sad
affair, just as if he were blessed with the
understanding Of a human being. Never
shall forget the sorrowful but singularly
comprehensive expression of his brown
eyes as he kept them fixed upon mine all
the while I was speaking to him ; and
when I had done, he turned away with
mournful whine, and suddenly disappeared.
Early next morning my brother shoul-
dered his rifle, and announced his intcn
ton of trying his fortune in a fresh search
for the poor child; but all the men had
gone home, and I was tco much broken
down with grief to accompany him and
so calling the dog, and not finding him he
set off alone.
"It was somewhere about the middle Of
the day that was sitting by the bed of
my nearly distracted wife, trying to soothe
and console her as best I could, when sud.
denly Bruno, whom I had entirely forgot
ten meantime, came bounding into the
room, looking soiled and fatigued, as if
from a long journey, and at once began to
bark and whine in a strange, peculiar man.
ner, running to and fro between me and
the door.
"T do believe the dog has found the
child" exclaimed I, starting to my feet
with new hope.
"'God grant it = cried my wife, wiring
ing her hands.
'''Try and be calm at least until I re
turn, said [, feeling new life in all my
veins
Il hurried out, the dog preceding nj
and barking joyously. lie then struck Of
in a direction different from any we hat
taken in our search for the girl, barkin!
excitedly, looking back at every few steps
, and thus seeming to urge me to follow him
! This I did, as fast as the nature of th
5 ground would permit, running the most o
S the way. Into and through deep, dcns
; wood, down along a gloomy hollow, anc
f up the steep sides of a wild, rocky noun
tain, the faithful dog led ME to distance
= of three miles, keeping just 50 far in ad
. vance, and always timing his gait to mine
:, cat length we reached spot more wild
, rocky and gloomy than any 1 have ye
Y seen; and climbing to the top of sort o
t cliff, Bruno gave vent to series of strang
. sounds, something between bark, how
t and wall, alternately looking back a
e me and down at some object evidently ia
e below him. Pressing forward, with emo
: tions that have no language to describe
: but which seemed to still the very beating
Q of my heart and rendered me sick an
4 faint, gained footing beside my dog
, and looking down into sort of pit or ba
i sin, surrounded on all sides by precipitou
S rocks-a strange formation of nature in
n deed-I behold my poor child, stretchc,
r out on the earth motionless, and as the
o believed, dead. My brain reeled at tn
sight, and it is a wonder did not fall
: Perhaps I did for how l got down t
4 her l never knew; but my next remen
n brance is of sitting on the earth, claspin
q the poor, bruised, starved creature in m
arms, and thanking G cd with all my hca,
l that held living, breathing child.
"I took off my coat, tore it into strip
0 lashed the child to my back, clambere
vt up the rocks, and thus conveyed her hom'
c fainting with fatigue and emotion just il
2 side the doorway.
is "That she eventually recovered, yc
l. have an evidence in her tonight.
e "In searching for the missing COWS, 81
D had wandered off, she knew not whithe
e and had fallen over the rocks during IL
night, injuring herself SO severely ss to
n unable'to escape from the pit where 81
had remained for five mortal days witho
,r a morsel of food Only for this noble al
y imal, her bones might have been bleachir
$. there to this day, and myself and wi
S. been crushed with the calamity that wOu
es have left us childless. By what stran
t. instinct, reason or sagacity, or what y
ID will, the dog had found her [ am unat
ne to say but the fact atSelf would have be
1 /