Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1869-01-20
A THRILLING SPECTACLE.
A Child Captured by nm Eagle.
md Carried ~. . ~ lies.


fatal event. 1t 10 briefly this:
Mr.. Whit~sits was in the little town do
ing some business his wife wss away At
neigh er'a, where . alex child was s,rug-
Cling With cholera infantum f; and the only
indoor servant the, had was cut to the barn
locking after soms cattle. whom their chiid,
bright little boy. Just learning 10 toddie
around on his little feet and prattle the
name Of "ps." tumblsd or crs~led cut o
ito cradle. in which it Vat left asleep by The
servant . few minute before. and managed
ssmshsw TO get 70 the door. which was
unfortunately open q the time, slihosgh
the little girl 10 chsrgs Of the place AYERS
that she had clssed IL on going out. The
child tumblsd into the front yard. it 10 sup
possd and wss CRYING and sprs Siag around.
chen . great grey eagle, seen by the gil a.
she zee leaving the barn, came s~sepioe
dswn, and fAstsn ng 10 immense and csue
talsns 10 the clothing Of The little boy. rose
up, Apparently with much ds0iseiiy, as
high A. IL could, which vas not very high.
and sailed Off across the adjacent woods,
Just Xxi mining, ~ the servant Gays, the top-
f the trees. When the servant saw The
eagle coming down, Is she was leaving the
barn, she had . presentment Of tho suang
est kind. and Gays she felt that the child
vas out o. doors, and that the hsrcs bird OF
prey vas bouncing down uponit but whom,
m moment altar, she beheld the great
tyrant Of tho air rise above the housotop
with the little child IN its claws. she grew
dizzy and fell 70 the ground. Her weak
meas, however, did not continue lsng, the
cold air blowing across her fscs revived
her quickly, and jumping on her feet
and gazing round wildly, she saw the
eagle disap pesring over the woods in The
direction Of the Cumberland. 6he Vas
Rnsd With bet one pnlse-te rescue the
little boy. She became ~ enc frantic, for
she had . remarkable affection for che
child. She rushed forward, BOUNDED over
the fence % II she wsro endowed with the
lightnsss end sgiity Of deer, dashed ints
shs wsed, dark and tangled - il was. not
taking time t. hunt cut fsotpAths. or Gov
tracks. She instioctivsly left that the
thieving bird would keep in . straight line,
aud che kept in straight line also. With
the strength and unthinkiug courage of .
strong man who has become suddenly
dsrangsd, she dashed the undsrgrssth
aside. crossed the vsvinss % II she bad
been on level plain. spurssd the fallen
trees aud jagged rocks - il tb6y we're the
sweo,hsst and ssftsat moss. The patch OF
~eod ~ss fully . mile aud half through
but the girl made the run TO the Other edge
81 il without feeling in tho least fatigued.
Bey ond the wood, aud between it and the
RIVER. lay patch Of clear ground, partly
msfshv and partly ,cornHeld, full Of OLD
stunps. When she left tho wood, and
had . clear view, shs saw tho eagle - fhs
we're inclined 70 alight with his burden
somewhere in the neigh pCrhood Of the
river. This gave her new courage end
fresh hope, and she ran forward with
increased speed. 1t luckily happened st
mat time tina, ;hsre WAS man hunting III
he ncshboring marshes, and just at the
pArticuar moment when the eagle reached
he Ground With hs bnrs-n, shot wen
II 80 dangerously and alarming Y nesr him
or the hunter VS. behind a clump al
bushes. about 20 yards oil, and had b..
lack toward tho spot where the eagle and
he child wete) that he mounted into the
ctr again, but This time wi,hau. mis- burd.n
The pursuing gri wa. ii lei " th joy when
shs b, held the bird tiso without me child
Bat fsaring be would return, 10 he seemed
inclined to do, she tet NJ vigorous
shouting as abe ran, which attracted tie
huntsr's attention in that drsctisn
| who, seeing the eagle qnl,e near him,
and lity rushing down the slope
with strsarulng hair and garments, and
| wildly shouting, concluded q. once that
| ,heis was somsshing strange and perhaps,
dreadful in his immediate vicinity, aud he
also set mp . vigorous hallooing, and pro
cssdcd to reload his gun with much
precipitation. forgetting to 60 alter the
| game he had Just shot, Tue eagle seon be-
came aware Of the formidable opposI,isn
he would meet if he attempted to 70 cap
wheeled around and swung himself, in ons
gra "a swoop, across the river and disap>
peared behind the shelving rock which
forms its eppvsits bank at that point, b.
iore . shot from tbs hunters gun was
| rs>dy 70 srssd ,ts fight to his bold heart.
| While tbs gul came down to the hunter
| she tel stf, and VAS net able to indicate
| what was the matter. While the rough
| Ga liant was sndcavorng 10 restore her 10
| her conscionsrc =, he heard the scream OF d
chIli, and leaving tho slowly recovering
A.r, he went toward the spot where II
came from. and bcheld tine. healthy, ROSY
boy, with tern clothes, but otherwise unn-
lared. endsavoring toIlss again upon his
attic feet. The tears streamed down his
| innocent cheeks. and his face wore . NEST
| hldsous expression. He took the baby in
his ans and carried i. to the girl, vino
was now sufficiently recovered, to compress
bend that her beloved charge WAS safe. She
claspsd il her bosom, covered il with kiss
IS, and wspt with joy. In the meantime
the mother and father Of the child had re-
turned homo. end finding empty, with no
sigu 10 indicate whore The inmates were
gone, save . bucket Of spilisd milk out near
the barn. where the girl had dropped is IN
her fight, they became exceedingly apxi-
Gus and unessy but the return o. the SER
want. the hunter ard the wenderfal little
royaeer, who had The meet thrilling adven-
turs that was ever heard Of restored them
to tranquility. There wasa truly merry
ana joyous Chsistnlas in that houssho old.