Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-02-08

told the crowd that they had known John
for twenty years, and that he was incapa-
Bile of murder or perfdy or deceit. and as
honest q man as could be found in the
county.
1t was decided not to search any farther
that dav, as there was no prospect now
that Willie would be found alive. The
men went home, agreeing to come again
after three days, by which time the sleet
and light snow that had ellen would have
all melted, and search Il. the body might
be successfully made.
| John went to his house. As he met his
afflicted family and realized that little
Willie was now gone, that the search was
given up and his child was dead, his Spar
tan firmness yielded, and he wept such
tears as strong, proud men weep when
broken on the wheel of life. The last
| cruel stab at his moral nature and integrl-
| ty hurt hard. He was a pure, upright
man, n church-member, and without re-
preach.
As the three days were passing away
that were to elapse before the search LOT
The body should begin, it became apparent
in the community that Johns Homerlc
speech had done no good. The wise heads
of Whiskey Hollow declared that at the
next search there would be first oil all
thorough overhauling about the immediate
premises. Their suspicious found some
favor in the community. Some were dis
cussing Indignantly, and some with toier-
anee, the probability OF Johns guilt
Even good Deacon Beezman, magistrate
who "liyed out on the main road, and
who was supposed to carry in his own per-
son at least half Of the integrity and in
80 tr1,h dnplorpH
that he would not spend more OF his pre-
cious time in searching for the boy. He
made it the chief point in the case that
John "acted guilty. He had noticed
that this rustic Spartan sat in his house
and read his newspaper with apparent in
terest as in ordinary times, on the day OF
the last search, and this Indifference was
evidence Of his guilt. 1t was apparent
that any color of proof, if there had been
any such thing, might have served as
; pretence for an arrest of the afflicted
father.
The morning appointed as the time to
seek for the body came The excitement
was high. and men came from great dis
, tances to Join in the exploration.
, Eight miles away. up across the river
that flowed through the forest, dwelt Lo-
; gan Bill hunter. At an early hour he
, left his cabin, and took his course down
the stream toward the gathering-point.
, There was an April sun shining, but in
the wilderness solitudes it was cold and
dreary. He kept along the margin Of the
, stream to avoid the tangle Of brush and
fallen trees.
AT nine o'clock Logan was still three
miles from Johns clearing. He was pass
| ing through a hollow where the black
! spruce and pine made the forest gloomy.
, He came upon bundle of clothes: he
turned it over; it was Willie.
And thus alone in the wilderness Logan
solved the mystery. Through three miles
of trackless forest, under the sombre, sigh
ing trees of the great woods, through the
fog and falling rain and snow, the child
had struggled on. feeling its way in the
night along the margin of the river, until
it grew weak and sick, and fell and died.
There was choking in Logan's throat
as lie lifted the cold little body and car
red it onward down the stream, and noted
the places where the infant must have
climbed and scrambled in its little battle
for life 1t was strange two hours to
him as he bore the pure, beautiful frozen
corpse toward the settlement.
At eleven o'clock he reached the clear
ing. He saw the scattered groups Of men
gathered about Johns house and barn.
Some of the men seemed to be searching
about the barn TO find the body of the boy
they believed to be murdered. Logan felt
his frame tremble and his temples throb,
realizing as he did the weight of life and
death wrapped in the burden that he bore.
He spoke no word and made no gesture,
but, holding the dead child in his arms,
marched directly past the barn to the door
yard, and up in front of the house. There
he stopped, and stood and looked with ag-
tated face at the farmhouse door.
The shock of Logan's sudden coming
was so great that no one said, 1.-THE body
is found" but all the men stopped talking,
and some, pale and agitated, gathered in a
close huddle around Logan, and looked at
the little white, frosted face, and in hushed
tones asked where Logan had found the
body.
A banker was brought and spread upon
a dry place in the yard, and Logan laid
his little burden upon it.
John came out and approached the spot
where his little Willie was lying. There
was deeper hush as the crowd made way
for the father; and the rough men, some
of whom were now crying, looking hard at
John ''to see how he would take it,
John stood and gazed unmoved and lion
like: not muscle of his strong face quiy-
cred as he saw his boy. He called in q
tone OF authority for his family to come,
and said to his wife as she came trembling,
weeping, fainting. "A1othcr, look upon
your son" -
He turned and surveyed the crowd with
the same dauntless eye he had shown in
making his Homeric speech at the school
house. To some Of the company that eye
was now dagger.
John was cool, calm and polite. He ut.
tered no reproach, and was kind in his
words to all. a half-hour passed. The
crowd went away in groups, discussing the
amazing wonder chow ever it could be
that such q little teller as Willie could
have got SO far away from the house"
The next day religious services were
| held, and in the afternoon little Willie was
laid to rest upon a sunny knoll. John
wept at the grave, A poisoned arrow
| was drawn from the strong mans heart,
| and a great grief was there in its stead
p Deming in Atlantic Monthly for Feb
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