Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-01-31

Greek and noble Roman OF ancient times, Tor
they believed in divination.
The forune.woman went into the house
where the mother Of Willie sat, crying The
men crowded the room and windows and
door. Some Of the men looked solemn, some
jeered Out at the door Josh explained
apologctically to the unbeievers that, " mas
much as some thinks as how she can tell, and
some thinks as how she can't, so it were
thought better for to 60 and fetch her, so
that all might satisfactory themselves, and
no fault found, and everything done for the
little boy"
After brief seance with the teacup in
the house, the fortune-woman, urged by the
men, went out.of.doors and walked up
along the hollow with her teacup, expert
menting to find the child. About half of
the men struggled after her. Jim declared
to the group who fingered at the house that
he would sell out and leave, if the entire
crowd disgraced the town by following after
that old she-devil."
To stranger coming upon the field at
this time, the scene was picturesque, and
some of it unaocountabe. In the back
ground was vast descending plain Of ever.
green forest, sloping away from the Adiron-
dack highlands to the dim distance ofthe st.
Lawrence Valley, where could be seen the
white, thread.like line Of the great river, and
still beyond the Canada woods melting away
to measureless distance Of airy blue. 10
the foreground was a vulgar old woman wad-
ding along and suatcbing here and there a
teacup full of water from the puddles formed
by the melting snow and fifty vigorous men
in awe.struck attitudes were gazing at her,
and when she moved they followed after.
Odd as this grotesque performance seemed,
it had 10 it touch of the old heathenish
grandeur belonging to the ancient supersti-
tons. The same strange light that through
all time has sho re from human faces as souls
reach after the great infinite unknown shone
from the faces of some Of these men, There
were fine visages among them. Burly Josh
and a hunter with dark, poetic eyes would
have been a match for handsome, pious
4Eneas or the heroes of Hellas who watched
the fight Of birds and believed in a fortune
woman at Delphos.
But the simple faith of these modern wor
shippers was not rewarded after the Greel
pattern, the oracle gave ambiguou responses
The old woman proclaimed, with her eye
swapping venomously, that there was " bi
black blste a standin' over the swate child.
She announced, with a swing Of her RICH
arm extending around half c ircle, tina
a. the dear, Innocent darlin' was somewher
about off that way from the house )" Sh
scolded the men sharply for their lazines'
telling them they had not looked for tn
lost child, but were waiting around the house
while the blessed baby starved and tn
big black haste stood over him."
Dan caught at this and declared that thu
"old hypocrite was no fool. She kne'
enough to understand that " it was no way +
find lost boy to shell out whole township
of able.bodied men and set them to chase a
old woman around lot"
r The fortune-woman came back to tn
house, held final grand seance with tn
teacup divinity, and declared that the "swat
a child" was within half a mile Of the place
and If they would only look they would I'm
Z him. and that if they did not look, within tw
, days, " the big black haste would devour tn
poor. neglected darlin'." After this the for
tune.woman was put into the wagon agair
y. and Josh drove her home. 1t was fully In az
cordance with the known perversity Of huma
4 nature that the faith of the believers in he
Il infallbility was not in the slightest degre
q shaken.
e The company, having been increased b
fresh arrivals to more than one hundre
d men, organized for the search. The colon'
a ranged the men in line about twenty fe'
5, apart, extending across the wide stubbl,
l. field and the pasture. The men were direc
', ed by the colonel to dress to the lett
e that is, as ne explained it, for each to waite
d the man at the left and keep twenty feet fro
j. him and observe all the ground in marphn
The word was given, and " line, moi
Is than half mile long, began to move cid
N wise or platoon fashion, sweeping from Il
h road by the house across the clearing to Il
1t woods. 1t was grand charge upon Il
v great wilderness. The long platoon, und
r. the instruction of their commander, swept Il
b. woods bordering the clearing and the
he doubling back, made semicircular curves, g
h. ing deeper and deeper at each return in
he the prmeval forest. The limit Of the
lie marching aud countermarching in one dire
H. ton was a river too broad to be crossed
pr fallen trees it was sure that Willie ecu
Id not have crossed the river. The terminate
er of the marches in the other direction was co
in trolled by the judgment of the colonel.
a was a magnificent tramp through the vii
he wet woods, under the giant trees, each e
ur strained and expectant Of the lost boy. lie
n. and there in advance of the line as it pl
crossed, partridge, aroused by the voiC
tn of the men. would start from the und'
is growth and trip along for few steps vi
an her sharp, ooquettish quit, quit, guH, a
l." then whir away to some adjacent hollow,
IS. be soon again aroused by the advancing lii
ed The afternoon was wearing away. I
of woods had been thoroughly explored
,rs about two miles from the clearing,-iar
his You'd what it seemed possible for an inf