Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-03-01

went too. They rode out in the country
few miles to the house of a friend, who treat
ed them to watermcons. Johnny gnawed
out the sweet juicy inside of his slice, and
looking at the rind, thought what nice little
the spring to sail my boat" he said, and of
he ran, bareheaded as he was.
The spring was some distance from the
house, but there was a good path all the
way, and Johnny had been down to il once
when he was there before. But there were
other paths branching of, and somehow John
ny struck into one Of these and kept running
on, expecting every moment to come to the
spring. But the path dwindled away and
finally disappeared entirely, and then John
n.y. in wandering on and trying to find it
again, got completely bewildered, for the
house was completely out Of sight; and what
was he to do ?
Any one who has never seen the western
prairies can hardly imagine the tiresome
lengths in which they stretch out, with the
most tedious sameness This was not level
prairie, but rolling--a swell, then a rayine,
and so on, all looking much alike. Among
these Johnny wandered till he was tired, try
ing to find the house and calling for father
and mother.
When a long time passed and he did not
come back to the house his parents grew un-
easy, and fearing he had fallen into the spring
| his father went down to look for him, but
found neither Johnny nor his boat. They
went out to hunt for him, and called in every
direction, but he was by this time too far
away to hear them.
Poor little fellow The sun beat down SO
hot on his head and the coarse prairie grass
hurt his bare feet, but still he wandered on,
all sweaty and dusty and tear-stained, until
the sun set and darkness came on, for in those
prairie countries the two events are close to-
gether. He was very hungry and tired, but
there was neither supper nor bed for him, so
he laid down among some bushes in dry ra-
vine and ate the watermelon rind, which he
had carried in his hand all the while, and he
was SO hungry that the rind tasted better even
than the inside did in the afternoon. He sat
up and stared about in the darkness and felt
afraid d" Father mother" he called as
loud as he could in his terror but there was
no one to answer, and, the big tears rolling
down his checks, he lay down again and cried
ullletll W cltils lJhA nN hAu hOA NiOtp 'Ni
we'll for the night dews wet through his thir
cotton clothes and made him so chilly tina
time and again through the long night ht
woke up shiyering, and seeing the stars shin
ing over his head remembering where he was
and lay trembling as much with fear as cold
When his parents could not find him, hi
father rode quickly back to town and spreat
: the alarm. The men and boys started witt
dogs and guns and torches and horns an,
all that night, and Monday and Monday night
and part of Tuesday they kept up the search
And how do you suppose johnny Jared a
i this while? He was glad when dayligh
came Monday morning, for then he was no
Z afraid, and he thought he might find his wa,
before night, but he was hungry enough an'
kept a sharp lookout for something to eat
All he could find was an occasional bunch o
the little sour grapes, and sometimes on
wild gooseberry bush he would find rip
+ gooseberry, half dried up. As the sun gre
hot, he became sweaty, which made him yer
# thirsty, but he could seldom find water, for
d had been such dry season. When he di
S find any he had nothing to drink from, so
e would lie down fat and putting his mouth
d the water, drink as well as he could.
n Just before night on Monday he saw be
u on horseback away in the distance. Johnn
n forgot how tired he was, and ran toward hil
o with all his might, calling as loud as
o could, " Wait for me Wait for me !" b.
C the boy was too far away, and neither saw ne
/ heard him, but kept riding on. Johnny ra
i the faster, and called the louder, till he stun
r bled and fell headong, and when he got u
81 again, the boy was out Of sight Then a
st Johnny's tired" came back to him, al
S lying down in the grass, be cried till he wei
IT to sleep, for he thought he must wander abo
'c till he starved to death and never see b
J. home any more. When morning came aft
ID another long shivering night, he was so Ian
n and tired he could hardly stir, but he final
got up and wandered about in weak, sic
e way. He grew thirsty, and found some W
1 ter in a ravine, then he wandered up al
re down for something to eat, for he was new
r half so hungry in his life before. think
as would have been glad to eat even the chic
a. en- skin which this very morning funny l
of tie boy pulled of the drumstick he was gna
TO ing the meat from at breakfast. Mamma
70 said this little boy as he pulled off the SIX
y and laid it on his plate, " I'm not going
81 cat all those ,feather-pins - No one cou
sh blame him for not wanting to swallow
sh many pin-feathers, for the man who dress
I'd the chicken didn't half do it. | think job
40 ny would have been glad to swallow
II, Z" feather-pins" and all.
st About noon, man on horseback came up
nd party who were hunting for johnny, N
ur numbering about one hundred and fifty IN
&c and boys.
IS Whats going on ?" he inquired.
'ss ave are hunting for a lost child"
"That reminds me-" said the man, " Il
about mile and a half back here, rode il
a ravine to water my horse. and saw lit
of child's tracks all about in the soft ground.
ay thought strange Of it at the time, as there '
MT no house near"
est The company took the direction and ms
ak for the ravinc as fast as possible. Arri'
10, there they separated, one company going
lis and one down the ravine. One man at LEM
by came in sight Of Johnny sitting down in
Ies grass, his yellow head just showing over
on top. He rode up quietly, not wishing
is frighten him, and Johnny did not look up
he he heard the horse. Then he rose up 0
Oh looked very earnestly at the man.
at. "Do you know where my father is 2"
.th asked, in weak, trembling voice. the
er, tears standing in his blue eyes.
lm There were loud shouts of rejoicing, ar
of of guns, aud blowing of horns, to let the r
m. of tho company know he was found, Johnn
ire father almost beside himself with joy, t.
ay him up in front Of him on his horse, and 9
or ried him home. He had brought along e
ON for him, so the poor, little boy did not hi
ess to wait till he got home for something to 9
is and III warrant Johnny knew how good br,
not and butter could taste.
Of 1t would be hard telling who was most 81
it Johnny or his family, when he was bYou
home alive and well,