The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-05-07
DolIy-A western Drover's Story.

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DOlly-A Western DrOver's story.
Nv name is Anthony Hunt. | am a
droyer and / live miles and miles away
upon the western prairie. There wasn't
house in sight when we moved there's my !
wife andl, and now we have not many
neirhbors, though those we have are good
ones.
one day about ten years ago, / went
away from home 10 sell fifty, head of cattle
fine creatures as ever I saw. | was TO
buy some groceries and dry goods before ]
came back, and above all, q doll for our
Youngest dolly; she had never had a store
DOH Of her own, only the rug babies her
mother had made her. T.1t. 81.
dolly could talk of nothing else, and
went down TO the very gate ocall after me
To ,sbuy a big one" Nobody but a parent
can understand how full my mind was of
| that toy, and how, when the cattle were
sold, the first thing, I hurried on to buYl
Dolly's doll. I found q large one, with
ewes that would open and shnt when you
pulled a wire, and had 1t Wrapped uP in
paper and tucked II under my arm, while
had the parcels of calico and delaine and
sugar and toa put up. Then late ~ 1t
was, / started for home. " might have
been more prudent 10 stay until morning,
but I felt anxious to get back, and eRger to
hear Dolly's prattle about her, ...--
l was mounted on q steady-going old
horse Of mine, and pretty well loaded.
I Might set in before Twas n mile fromtown,
and settled down dark as pitch, while was
in the middle Of the widest bit OF road |
know of. / could have felt my way, though,
1 remembered II so well, and IL was almost
that when the storm that had been brew
H.. ~. - ..Il.1 Nla wnfV Ia, NaNNaNNu
hve miles, or may be, six, from home yet,
too. -.
rode on ~ fast az ] could, but all OF a
sudden ] heard a little cry Ike a childs
voicel | stopped short ana listened-I
heard ii again. i called aud it answered
me. 1 couldn't see q thing; all was dark as
pitch. Igot down and felt about Ia the
g~rass-called again, and again was an
swered. Then ! began TO wonder. I'm not
timid, but ! was known 10 be n drover and
TO have money about me. II might be q
] trap to catch me and rob and mur,
der me.
/ am not superstitious-not very; but
how could q real child be out in the prairie
on such q night, at such an hour2 II might
be moro than human.
The bit of a coward that hides itself in
most men showed itself 10 me then, and !
] WIS NAL lutlllltn| " ihh AWAY btAN aus
more / heard that cry, and said /:
'Tf any mans child il h~ereabouts, An
thony Hunt Is not the man to let il die.'
| searched again. At last / ~bethought
me of a hollow under the hill, and cropped
that way. Sure enough, | found 9 little
dripping thing that moaned and s0bbea aa
/ took il IN my arms. | called my horse,
ana the beast came to me aud I mounted,
and tuckedthe little soaked thing under
my coat as well as l. could, promising to
take II home TO nanny. II seemed tired
to death, and pretty soon cried Itself to
sleep against my bosom. sos
II had sleps there over an hour when ]
saw my own windows. There We're lights
in them, and / supposed my wife lit them
for my sake, but when | got into the door
yard / saw something was the matter, and
stood still with a dead fear Of heart five min-
utes before I could lift the latch. At last |
did itand saw the room full of %neighbOrs,
and my wife amidst them weeping.
When she saw me She hid her face.
"Ob, don't tell him " she said, 1T will
kill him.. t'z a-I ss. Lad ra.. 4
what is il, neighbors, " / cried.
And one said, "Nothing now, Ihope
what's that in YOU arms?"
"a poor, lost child, said !. 81 found
il OF the road. Take. it, will you, I've
turned faint" and | lifted the sleeping
thing and saw the face Of my own child
my little Dolly, a.. 80 ..r /
II was my darling, and none other, that,
| had picked up upon the drenched road.
My little child had wandered out 10 meet
daddy" and the doll, while her mother
was at work, and whom they We're lament
ing as one dead. I thanked Heaven on my
knees before them all. N r f.sr.n-.4
Il is not much of o story, peighbors, but
i think Of it often in the nights, and won.
der howl could bear to live now IL / had
not stopped when | heard the cry for help
upon the road-the little baby cry, hardly,
hardly louder than a squirrels chirp.
That's Dolly, yonder, with her mother in
the meadow; a girl worth saving, / think
but then, I'm her father, and partial, may
be the p~rettiest and sweetest thing this
side of the Mississippi. w re- I,
A MESAoER1E LoosE. "A letterfro Mes.
ira, Italy, relates an alarming incident
which occurred in that town. Amenaperie
of wild beasts was about to leave for Ven
ice, when n double cage, containing a lion
and a leopard, fell on the quay, where il
was about TO be embarked, and was broken
10 pieces, leaving the animals free. The
lion, after remaining a moment apparently
astOnished at being set at liberty, proceed
ed toward the town, but without attacking
any one; however, on meeting a flock OF
sheep, ii worried and tore TO pieces seve-
raj OF them. The inhabitants He'd in ter
ror in all directions, but presently the mis-
tress Of the menageTie arrived with A Whip.
and fixing her eyes steadfastly on the ami.
NAL, ordered him peremptorily TO lie down.
Immediately leaving the Tepast IL had iust
commenced, il obeyed and was soourafter
replaced by her in another cage. The.
leopard plunged into the river and gained.
the opposite bank, and has not sints been
heard of. Hunting parties had been organ
lied in pursuit Of il.
Ir
M. Bertheny, the French Minister. on
Friday last, took his final leave OF Presidont
Grant, and on Saturday next will sail from
New York for Europe. On Saturday he was
entertained by the British Minister. II ia
understood that although going away on
leave, M. Bertheny will not return to this
country, but viii DO transferred 10 another
field Of duty. Count Favournay, first seere-
tary OF legation, will remain as Charge DAT
faires for several months. 2" ho1S
TRAIN VI. TnLToS. -Tilton recently wrote
down Train as a ''charlatan, blatherslite
and harlequin which tender epithets i'm
pei George Francis Train 10 respond:
"Thank you Theodorus of Abyssinia for
yonr irst-clRssnotice II must have been
gall and NORWOOD to your Theoretical
Junta for me TO go down 10 Kansas and re-
duce your Equal Rights opractieal voting.
There IL. nothing so severe 10 the teeth Of
wisdom as biting a file. When I talk il is
always abont my. mission not myself.
With you il is just the reverse.
Hence I am an egotist. You are not. I
wear long hair because it gives me a stu
dent look. And where LECTURE for women
/ put my money in my WI pocket 'ri