The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1865-11-17
/. 8 attesterM Sketth.
THE BOY AND THE PANTHER.

1t was fine morning in August, when
little Samuel Eaton, about seven years old,
was making a dam III the brook that ran be-
fore his fathers door. lie was an only and
beautiful child, and his mother almost idol,'
lied kim. There no was, with his trousers
tucked up above his knees, working like a
beaver, his mothers eyes cleaning ont from
beneath his sunburnt hair, and with some
o his faith RS strength, tugging at large
stone in the bed of stream.
Satnnel, you had better como in hadht
you? ;" said Hannah, in tone of half moth.
er and hal mate. ''
"No,' said Samuel
An acorn came floating down the stream
The boy took it ur, lookel at it, was
pleased, and "reckoned in his mind that
there were more up the gulley." aud when
his mothers back WAS turned, off he started
for the acorns. gef, f.,.5s f-
The gorge of the mountain which he was
about to enter, had been formed (the work
of many centuries) by the attrition of the
stream he had just been playing in; and
walking on the level that bOrdeTed each
side of the water, he boldly entered the ra-
vine. An almost perpendicular wall Or
bank ascended on each side to the hight of
one hundred feet, composed of rocks aud
crags, fretted by decay and storm into fan.
tastic shapes and positions. A few scat.
tered bushes aud trees sought pourishment
from the earth that had fallen from the level
above, and ,eXcepting their assistance and
the unseen surface Of the rock, this natural
fort seemed Inaccessible bat to bird and
beast About All eighth of a mile from the
entrance u cataract closed the gorge, throw
ing up its white veil of mist III seeming
guardianship of the spirit Of waters. The
verdant boughs hanging over the bank cast
q deep gloom upon the bed below, while SO
lofty was the distance, they seemed TO grow
up to the sky, Blue patches OF water were
seen peeping between them
Hannah spon missed her boy, but as he
had often wandered in the fields where his
father was at work, she concluded he must
be there, and checked coming fears with the
hope that he would return at the dinner
hour. When it came, neither Joseph nor
any OF his men knew where he was. Then
the agitated mother exclaimed:
" He's lost! he's lost! My poor boy viii
starve in the woods
Gathering courage, she hastily summoned
the family around her, and dispatched them
all but her husband to search in different
directiohs in the neighboring forest. TO
her husband she said; 'sScour every field
you call your own, and if you can'tfnd him,
join meiin the gorge"
(" lie wouldn't go to the gorge, Ilannahf'
lie would so anywhere She knew
not why, but prescntment that her hoy
had followed the course Of the stream dwelt
on her mind.
- | can't fnd him, lIannah,' said the hus.
bard, as he Joined her at the mouth of the
An. Hat.r fi, ,ptl lan.-a u
she entered tile ravine. She tllon4ht to
herself 'fThe dreadful birds arc tearing my
Child to piGeesi" and frantic, she hastened
on, making the walls Of the rayinc echo
hack her screams for her offspring. The
OILY answer was the etornal tliundor OF the
boiling cataract, which. as if in mDckery of
her woe. threw its cold spray upon her hot
aud throbbing temples. She strained her
eyes alnpS the dizzy hight that peered
through The mist, till she could no longer
see. and her eyes filled with tears.
Who but a woman can. tell the feelings
of womau's heart? Fear came thick and
fast upon the reeling brain of Hannah. ,"Oi,
my boy, my brave boy viii del" Aud
wringing her hands in agony, she sank at
her husbands feet The pam of hope dc
fcrred" had strained her leart-sirihgs TO the
utmost tention, and il seemed as If ihe rnde
hand. OF lespair had broken them all. The
terrified husband threw water IN her pale
face, and streye by all The arts lie knew, to
win hur back to life Al last size opened
her langnid eyes, stared wildly around, and
rose trembling to ler feet. As she stool
like a heart-broken Niobe, Z" all tears a
fragment Of rock came tunbling down tile
opposite bank. She looked up--she was
herself again, for halfway UP the ascent
stood her own dear boy
But even while tile glad cry was issuing
from her lips it turned into a note of horror.
sob. mercy. mercy The crag on which
the boy Stood projected from the rock in
such a way as 10 hang about twelve feet
over tue bank. Right below one Of the
edges Of the crag, partly concealed among
some bushes, crouchel panther. The