St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-06-14

lnen the little girl aWOke and look
ed tearfully around her. Rustling
among the dead leaves, hushings in the
swaying tree-tOps, shrill, faint cries OF
insects, were each distinctly audible tC
her listening ears. The vines hanging
FROM tree to tree, her playthings by
day, assumed the proportions of gigan-
tic serpents in the misty gloom The
tangled clumps of underbrush and tall
er bushes shaped themselves into
crouching forms, which filled her little
heart with awful terror
But sleep. blessed angel, bent brood
ingly 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 home in the dream mir
ror he held over her closing eyes.
But when morning slowly dawned.
the poor children awoke cold. stiff. and
hungry. Trembling and weeping. they
resumed their wanderings up and down,
calling in vain for father and mother.
now certain they heard their voices i'll
reply. and rushing wildly here and
there, to sink down exhausted: now
pressing forward in desperate silence,
with the certain expectation of reach
ing spot where they could catch Il
glimpse Of that dear longed-tor home.
only to meet with more disappOint-
ment.
Nellie gathered all the berries she
could find. and gave them to her little
brothers. She forgot her own needs.
and III trying to soOthe them would be
come hopeful herself
In Il little while We will he there.
guess" she kept saving: but night sur
rounded them. alas further still from
home, and she mingled her tears with
theirs as they sat down in the gloom
and knew that they would not sleep in
their little beds that night Nellie
gathered leaves for her brothers and
her own bed. but hunger and increas-
ing cold kept them awake. and with
the first lifting of the shadows of night
they resumed their search for the path
which must lead them back again to
the home they would never fors;ke
again if they once found ii.
And now Nellie's sole care WAS for
her brothers. Exposure to the damps
of the wood, hunger and thirst and un-
wonted fatigue, were beginning to tell
on them. They did not weep rs much
but staggered along stupid and uncom-
planning. She found birch bark and
sassafr;ts leaves. which she gave them.
and occasionally wintergreen leaves. or
the dry, sour remains 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
frn,n the nine cones and tbeI beIn.J
to stiff. the panps of hunger for a time
Aunth.r uiuht nnss,d They slent in
snit,. of ,nId and h,,uyer for tbair
strength Was failing They h,hbled in
their sI.ep of mother : ..bome
..hr.od and made no hast. to ris.
with the dawn. Listless and ouiet
they Law till Nellie. coaxed the bows ON
their feet. but they could not walk far
without sinking down to the ground.
and finally she let them lie. while she
hunted for berries and fed them with
the few she found.
There We're signs of snow i'll the air
and towards afternoon large flakes of
tieecy Whiteness found their way down
through the restless branches above
their heads. As the flakes grew small
cI, they fell more thickly ly-without the
wood the wind swept bowling over hill
and plain. but here i'll the very heart of
the forest only the wall of the spirit
voices rushed through the tree-tops
with the dash of the storm against them.
and. driving the snow through the
branches. it fell on the helpless. unre-
Sistinr group below covered ev-
.rythinr with a white pail. as if making
A. Il
of their lives.
Nellie covered her own and her broth
ers heads with the skirt of her dress.
hui il WAS not large enough to protect
them all. so she led them to a clump
of bushes bound together with tangled
vines which overtoppcd them. and but =
t,,iu,r Them mn closer in their little
i,,.k.t. and covering their caps down
avon. tl.ir ears she made them lie down
,.Ins. tnr.the, under tb, clump. She
tn,l nt,: h., v,rm s,ruue and laid il
,,y,r Then, hut N the cold Increased.
tI,,,' ,,,,,,,oJ ,nL s,Ihed and rnuld moi
sI.ru Then the child took of her
ii, h.mds and wr'nn.d il rouud
H., .hi,..,;mr hn,s,
,,,,,,f.,,..a,f I,, ;ts warmth rhev sank
.. .Ian,, .,J EolIi... ,.,,as v.r,. ,Ier
!" w. .'.t T. I'" 't,,',.;,,. W,,,niu,, her
i'"' i"' ~ ,ir,,"s IN Win hr, sbnrt
ii.,'I, H..I ,i,',I natti,.na, huttarinr ,o;nst
il'''' i,.s,, E,t,s H., r.,li,aT mn and
i,', I' ,',,,' ,'' ,rot nnrm, u.r t.,.th ,hitt.r.
Wv" w t !" w. sSi;rht t,am. sbnnk and SIN.
InnLnd from side to side for a refuge
fr"nn Tho Ja,JIy chill which clasped
har n IT, emLr.,e Rut there WAS none
silent remorseless. nitiless in IFS per
.i.tanry the snow felI. and cluur to
,I"t .,,..,nt;I,. ,IoJ .L,na till sr.rral,,
.,i''' 'I - -, I;t,la r.id hnod v,s ,.isi
t.V '"i"i vi ~ H. ia