Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-06-14

sssrtliasly aepwto JIM sa1sHM nnauts
over she1i geoupe Tbs eieeers 49,
resting psc1setisg0 ever the buys asMhey
Law on either side, with their curly ben@
and bare upturned faces on her lap, while
her own head turned back against the
trunk Of the tree, framed in the Little red
hood, looked very sweet and peacef1le
Then the beam stole up and Disappeared
and all was deeper darkness.
Then the little girl awoke and looked
feafftily around her. Rushing among the
dead leaves, hushings In the swaying tree
tops, shrill, faint cries Of insects, were
each distinctly audible to her listening
ears. The vines hanging from tree to
tree, her playthings BY day, assumed the
proportion Of gigantic serpents IN the mis-
" rloorn. The tangled clumps Of Under
brush, and taller bushes, shaped them,
selves into crouching forms, which filled
her little heart with an awful terror.
But Sleep, blessed Angel, bent brooding-
~ over the forlorn little group. he softly
touched the eyelids that were straining
themselves open to catch some new fear,
and she sank back to sleep with vision OF
hfCPhe ia the dream-mirr he held over
her closing eyes. -,
But when morning slowly dawned, the
poor children awoke cold and stiff and
hungry. Trembling and weeping. they
resumed their wanderings up and down,
calling in vain for father, mother, now
certain they heard their voices in reply.
and rushing wildly here and there, to sink
down exhausted; now pressing forward
in desperate silence, with the certain ex-
IS n xuhovo thav
could catch glimpse OF that dear longed-
for home, only to meet with more disap'
pointment.
Nellie gathered all the berries she could
find and gave them to her little brothers.
She forgot her own needs, and In trying
to soothe them would become hopeful her
self.
lin little while we will be there,
guess she kept saying; but night sur
prised them, alas further still from home
and she mingled tears with theirs a. they
sat down in the gloom and knew that they
would not sleep in their little beds thai
night. Nellie gathered leaves for bel
brot hers and her own bed, but hunge,
and increasing cold kept them awake,
and with the first lifting of the shadows o
night, they resumed their search for tn
path which must lead them back to thu
home they would never forsake again !
they once found
And now Nellie's sole care was for hel
brothers. Exposure to the damps Of the
wood, hunger and thirst and unwontet
fatigue were beginning to tell on them
They did not weep as much, but staggered
along stupid and accomplishing. She
found birch bark and sassafras leaves,
which she gave them, and occasionally
wintergreen leaves, or the dry, sour re-
mains Of wild grapes. She did not eat
any herself. There was not enough for
ALL" she said simply to Willie, when he
offered her some of his share. She shook
out the dry seeds from the pine-cones. and
they helped to stiae the pangs of hunger
for time.
Another night passed. They slept in
spite ofcold and hunger. for their strength
was failing They babbled in their sleep
of mother, home. '-"bread, and
made no haste to rise with the dawn
Listless and quiet, they lay till Nellie
coaxed the boys on their feet, but they
could not walk far without sinking dowr
to the ground, and finally she let them lie
while she hunted for berries and fed then
with the few she found.
CONCLUDED To- NORROW