Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1865-01-19

ment for the child o will not Heaven
pity her Have the sweet April skies
become brass to shut out her cries fot
help Has God forgotten to be graciousl
The little one grown weaker, he cannot
hold up his head Another terrible
night; he means piteously, he falls into
commissions the next day he dies. All
day she carries the little liteless body ia
her arms and all the night beneath the
tar-of IMPLYING stars, she holds il 10
her bosom, Poor woman We do not
Enow what lesson was meant to her by
the good rather, Bu%perhaps sheySas
Snowe long since; perhaps at this very
money! abe thanks and adoreg Him
for that great and sore distress, of which
we cannot Sen hear at this far remove
of time without a heart-ache.
She carried the little dqad burden dav
after Gay, untinhe purFse hoe Of decay
was se6ing rapidly over 1t, and she felt.
with pang at her @nart, that she must
bury it. 1hen she LOOKED ABBOTT for
spot where she might diX the tiny graz,
so deep that the wild cat and to- wolf
should Mt scent it out Weak As. She
was, this was no easy task. but in 1lcr
wanderings she came upon giant tree,
uPtOrn at some former time by 4 fRrrj,
Game. In the soft earth where the roots
had lain, she scoope5 the bahys resting
place, and making 1t soft with moss.
covered the cold Rttle form fvrever from
her sight Then she sat down by the
grave in stupor Of grief HoQr after
hour passed, how long n time she knew
nS, when she rose to her feet to COM
menCe again the dreadful pilgrimage.
Then she noted everything about the
sp&. Here was n0ck, there sto,gf an
immense hemloCk Yes. she would
know the place She coSld find il east
ly with Robert. Then begau again the
struggle through the wilderness. Day
after day week after week she pressed
on. Her shoes We're worn to fragments
ans fell from her feet, Her garments
were worn to tatters. But the dase
grew warmer. and the fever that was
burning in her veins made even the soft
showers that fell upon her welcome.
First she ate the buds of tys and the
bark Of the black birch, presently she
began to find young cRaCkerberry leaves,
and now and Then she came upon a par
tridge'S nest and greedly sucked the
eggs. Aaer time there were red rasp-
berries and black thimbleberries III the
woods, aad then She knew it was July.
The trees had now put on afresh their
beautiful garments. But for the deli
ciOus poetry that one finds in the woods,
sauntering out from busy life for an
hour, she cared nothing. She saw
nothing but trees, trees trees, in inter
minable succession, in bewildering same,
ness 1t seemed years, yes ages ago,
that she swept the hearth with a birch
broom, and sung the baby to sleep in
Roberts cabin. Her mind grew Devil
dered still sAe went on, on, on. When
she came to large stream she went up
towards its source till she could wade
across it. So she said and she affirmed
that she never crossed any stream waller
than brook She paid no attention to
sun nor moon as guide o. irdi~a+'N'' Of
tho points oI compass put SHE must
have taken nOrthwesteriy and then
nOrtheasterly course. There was Black
river, Mill river, WaterqueChy, White
Waits, Wells, flowing into the Connect
icut from the Vermont side: but She
constantly asserted that she saw none OF
them. Through July and August there
were berries of various kinds, and by
means of these sustained what little life
was left in her. And now the naples
began to take on TIE gorgeous crimson.
and the silver bircheS to wear the Uale
gold Of September; the birds were leay-
ipg the forest Still she went on, on. on.
Occasionally she had glimpseS Of brin-
died fur am@ng the branches, OF
black bear turned out of her path, afraid
of the human form bat no human be-
ing did she ever meet and long, long
before human voices had ceased to call
her name. Was she all alone Oh the
earth, and was the earth but one vast
wilderness without outlet, without
clearing or settlement Had God taken
away all life but that Of brutes, and for
gotten her, or ordained her to wander
forever? Tramping, tramping, tram.
ing, with feet bleeding and cracked AT
irst, but afterwards calCused nSked or
nearly 80, knowing &othing Of time or
place, Size was fast becoming itiiotic.
When she was hungry she sought for
food, but the great idea lingering in her
mind was that Of pressing on. Since
the luxuriance of summer had filed the
forest with ferns and underbrush
there was more difficulty in passing
through. But she had become accus-
toned to the rough work, and the frenzy
became at last a steady constant HABIT;
the labor Os life to her.
One day in October the inhabitants Of
TIE village of Charlestown, New IIamp,
shire, were started into the widest ex-
citemeRt. by seeing a naked, emaciated
woman, with her hax streaming upon
, her shoulders, walk with bewildered
gaze along their street. She told them
she was Robert Harrfs' wife, and she
was lost.
oRohe, + Harris wife, who disappeared
from the onn,, site side Of the river in
A April ~ exclaimed xcRdI the villagers. How
has she crossed the Con zee lcut! where
has she been all this time Dug she
told them that she never Crosse Vne
Connecticut. And she had been lost Il.
the woods all the time. There 1aas no
lack of hospitality the wanderer was
Immediately clad and'fed and cared for
to the utmost. Volunteers went at once
and brought her husband, for the story
of his bereavement was welloknown on