The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1867-10-10

EOST T7rTg3 vr-ysBr,g

Vermont, within thc limits of the town
ship OF Rockingham or Springfield, j
IS impossible to say which, that tn,
log cabin which was the home Of tn,
heroine stood, surrounded by forest
The real names Of the ac.ors in thi
tragedy OF the woods have pissed ou
OF the legend, and therefore. substitute
names Which con,c o my mind
L have finished my spinning, Rob
ert, and shall carry the yarn home
today. I think | will spend the day
with Mrs. Green, and wish you would
come aud meet me and bring the baby
home said the young wife, taking the
linen yarn in her apron and the baby or
her arm.
Very WELL replied the husband
giving his growing child a kiss, as he
started off with his hoe over his shoul
der to his wheat field. His lot had
been burnt over and sown with wheat.
but the huge stumps of the old trees,
and the thick underground roots in
the new land, prevented the use of the
plow.
All day he worked busily in the
fresh soil, with The strange wood sounds
abcut him, eating his lunch at noon,
from a little basket, until the lengthen.
ing shadows of the forest around his
clearing betokencd sunset. Then he
started off TO meet his wife. A mile
or two in The forest his neighbor Green
had made n clearing. He went on
without meeting his wife aud baby.
until he got to his neighbor's door.
Why said Mrs. Green, il answer
to his inquiries, didn't you meet her !?
She hasn't been gone long-only a few
minutes
Can she possibly have missed the
marked trees asked Robert Harris
aghast.
Do not be alarmed, noighbor Har-
rls,, said Mr.. Green, / will 60 back
with you
The two men went together through
the forest, which every moment grew
darker and drearer They called Mrs.
Harris name aloud at intervals, but
there came no reply. They kept say
ing to each other, I'VE NAV find
her at home but they were heavy at
heart.
The log house was reached, but the
mother and baby were not there. The
COW lowed to be MIXED, and the pigs.
who ran in the woods all day and came
home at night, clamored for their usu.
al food, but the men took no notice of
them. Back again through the woods
with lantern, calling and hallooing.
Then they weutto the next clearing.
and the next.
A woman loit!' What telegram
in the exciting days of battle ever fell
more thrilling on human cans than
those words, going from mouth to
mouth among the homes Of new coun-
try?
With iron muscles and determined
wills the warm hearted settlers started
ont. We will scour the woods; we
will fnd her, never fear - According
% custom they hal at such times, |
they blew dinner horns, built fires, and
shouted until they were hoarse. No
tidings Of the lost ones :hat night
All the next day they searched, and
day after day as long as possibl5.-I
Fires we're kept smouldering among
the trees, men who knew the woods
kept rcsolutely to the search, but the
budding april forest had It's own Sc
crets.
When Mr.. Harris started, with her
baby in her arms, from Mrs. Green's |
expecting momentarily 10 meet her
husband, she went on carelessly, her
attention being directed in part to the
child, when, suddenly looking up, she
discovered no white scar of the axe on
any tree in sight But she fancicd she |
had only stepped out Of the path, and |
might in moment regain it. a vain
fancy She wont on, but nothing ia
niliar met her eye,
The night came on, The song birds |
went to rest, and the owls commenced |
their doleiul hooting. She was alone |
with her infant in a great sea n forest, |
where never wooduau's axe had echo !
ed. She was lost. She sat down faint
and tired, and, woman-like, began to
cry. uark . that was a human shout |
She arose and, holding her course, ran
breathlessly toward It. And now she
thought she heard it again, farther off !
Many hours Of that NIGHT were spent in
tanning, with hysterical sobs, her friends
SO near that she could hear them,
but so far away that no effort Of frono
Zied strength could enable her to reach |
their protecting presence. Towards |
morning she slept, leaning against
tree, with the baby on her BOSOM
But she started nervously in her dreams
and at the first bird song, awoke to
full consciousness. With daybreak
came a renewal of her courage. Her
friends would find them, She saw
near her some last years berries, and
4.